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[From www.treehugger.com/health/5-health-benefits-houseplants.html]
Houseplants have been going in and out of vogue ever since the early Greeks and Romans starting bringing their plants in from the outdoors. The Victorians loved their potted palms and the 70s wouldn’t have been the same without ferns and spider plants … everywhere. Current style dictates a lighter hand with the green things – sculptural stems and succulents rule the roost – but the truth is this: Houseplants should transcend trends. The benefits they confer should make us consider them a necessity rather than an object of décor, because honestly, good health should never be out of style. If you need convincing, here are some of the ways that bringing plants inside helps us out.
1. They give an assist in breathing
Inhaling brings oxygen into the body, exhaling releases carbon dioxide. During photosynthesis, plants do the opposite, of sorts: They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, making plants and people great partners when it comes to gasses. Plants help to increase oxygen levels, and our bodies appreciate that.
But here’s something to know: When photosynthesis stops at night, most plants switch things up and absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide. However, a few special plants – like orchids, succulents and epiphytic bromeliads – flip that script and take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Meaning, use these plants in bedrooms to keep the oxygen flowing at night.
2. They help deter illness
In the great outdoors, plant roots tap the groundwater table for water which then evaporates through its leaves in a process known as transpiration. Studies show that this accounts for about 10 percent of the moisture in the atmosphere! The same thing happens at home (minus the groundwater table part), which increases the humidity indoors. While this may sound unappealing during hot moist months, it’s a gift during drier months or if you live in an arid clime. According to Bayer Advanced, studies at the Agricultural University of Norway document that using plants in interior spaces decreases the incidence of dry skin, colds, sore throats and dry coughs. And other research reveals that higher absolute humidity is conducive for decreased survival and transmission of the flu virus.
3. They clean the air
NASA has spent a lot of time researching air quality in sealed environments, which makes sense. Extensive research by the space agency discovered a then-new concept in indoor air quality improvement in which plants play a pivtoal role: “Both plant leaves and roots are utilized in removing trace levels of toxic vapors from inside tightly sealed buildings. Low levels of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde can be removed from indoor environments by plant leaves alone.” When talking about the relationship between plants and space travelers, NASA notes that plants, "provide nourishment for the body when eaten as food, and they improve the quality of indoor air. Plants take the carbon dioxide from air to produce oxygen that humans can breathe."
The top 10 plants for removing indoor pollutants, according to the agency are: Peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii), golden pothos (Scindapsus aures), English ivy (Hedera helix), chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium), gerbera daisy (Gerbera jamesonii), mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii'), bamboo palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii), azalea (Rhododendron simsii), red-edge dracaena (Dracaena marginata) and spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum). For more on these specific plants, see: Houseplants that clean the air.
The NASA researchers recommend one potted plant per 100 square feet of indoor space.
4. They boost healing
Bringing flowers or a plant while visiting a hospital patient may be verging on cliché, but so effective are plants in helping surgery patients recover that one study recommends them as a “noninvasive, inexpensive, and effective complementary medicine for surgical patients.” Plants as medicine! The study, conducted at Kansas State University, found that viewing plants during recovery from surgery led to a significant improvement in physiologic responses as evidenced by lower systolic blood pressure, and lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue as compared to patients without plants in their rooms.
Another technique to decrease recovery time, as noted by Texas A&M University, is horticulture therapy in which patients are tasked with taking care of plants. The patients who physically interact with plants experience a significantly reduced recovery time after medical procedures.
5. They help you work better
What? How? A number of studies with both students and workers reveals that studying or working in the presence of plants can have a pretty dramatic effect. As with simply being in nature, being around plants improves concentration, memory and productivity. Being “under the influence of plants” can increase memory retention up to 20 percent, according to a University of Michigan study.
Meanwhile, two Norwegian studies found that worker productivity is greatly enhanced by the presence of plants in the office. “Keeping ornamental plants in the home and in the workplace increases memory retention and concentration,” notes Texas A&M. “Work performed under the natural influence of ornamental plants is normally of higher quality and completed with a much higher accuracy rate than work done in environments devoid of nature.”
www.treehugger.com/health/5-health-benefits-houseplants.html
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Abandoned Abused Street Dogs.
Handed no# 1 wife the camera so
Mama could crawl onto my lap...;-)
Long day. No# 1 wife and I took
Legs The Zoomer into the dog
doctors clinic.Things went pretty
good with a couple of hick-ups.
Tomorrow Thailand starts in on
celebrating "Songkran."
Thai New Year's national holiday.
The dog clinic will be closed until
April 16. The Zoomer will return on
the morning of the 16th for a ck-up.
Had to make an executive decision.
Wait until after Songkran is over to
start fixing The Zoomer or start now
and keep a close eye on her for a
number of days at the nuns place.
As CEO of Abandoned Abused Street Dogs
I told them to start now and she'll be watched
over by the nuns and myself then returned on
the morning of the 16th for a ck up, easy deal.
Dead meat was trimmed off around the open
hole in her belly close to her belly-button.
Then noninvasive probing took place
where a lump was located close by.
X'ray reveled some swelling and
bruising but no actual tearing.
She's rapped, strapped and
stitched for the moment .
I feel comfortable with
that decision ........;-)
While no# 1 and I were waiting at the clinic
they came out with a thick folder and started
naming off all the dogs they have seen over
the last 7 years that I've brought in to be saved.
The ones no longer with us were culled from the
file and laughed at the new addition, "Baby Mickey."
So there ya go.
Songkran is considered the most
deadly 7 days on all the Thai roads !
Tomorrow I stay home and off the roads.
But Saturday I will be making a run out to
The Monkey Temple for the monthly meds.
And yes of course The Zoomer will be ck on.
From all the temple dogs, Thank You .........;-)
Thank You.
Jon&Crew.
Please help with your donations here.
www.gofundme.com/saving-thai-temple-dogs.
Please,
No Political Statements, Awards, Invites,
Large Logos or Copy/Pastes.
© All rights reserved.
.
My pulse rate is 79 to 80 beats per minute. 🌞
Baruch HaShem! !ברוך השם
Blessed is The Name!!
___________________________________
SpO2 Defined as Peripheral Oxygen Saturation
incenter.medical.philips.com/doclib/enc/fetch/586262/5864...
Introduction
The body's need for oxygen is certain. Its availability at a tissue level is some- times in doubt. Blood gas measurements provide critical information regard- ing oxygenation, ventilation, and acid-base status.
However, these measurements only provide a snapshot of the patient's condition taken at the time that the blood sample was drawn. It is well known that oxygenation can change very quickly. In the absence of continuous oxygenation monitoring, these changes may go undetected until it is too late.
Pulse oximeters measure blood oxygen saturation noninvasively and continuously.
What is SpO2?
A blood-oxygen saturation reading indicates the percentage of hemoglobin molecules in the arterial blood which are saturated with oxygen. The reading may be referred to as SaO2. Readings vary from 0 to 100%. Normal readings in a healthy adult, however, range from 94% to 100%.
The term SpO2 means the SaO2 measurement determined by pulse oximetry. As explained in the section "Considerations When Using Pulse Oximetry," under some circumstances pulse oximetry gives different readings, and the use of a different term indicates this.
How Does Pulse Oximetry Work?
Within the Sp02 sensor, light emitting diodes shine red and infrared light through the tissue. Most sensors work on extremities such as a finger, toe or ear. The blood, tissue and bone at the application site absorb much of the light. However, some light passes through the extremity. A light-sensitive detector opposite the light source receives it.
SpO2 Sensors
Most sensors work on extremities such as a finger, toe or ear. The sensor measures the amount of red and infrared light received by the detector and calcu- lates the amount absorbed. Much of it is absorbed by tissue, bone and venous blood, but these amounts do not change dramatically over short periods of time.
The amount of arterial blood does change over short periods of time due to pulsation (although there is some constant level of arterial blood). Because the arterial blood is usually the only light absorbing component which is changing over short periods of time, it can be isolated from the other compo- cents.
_______________________________________________
Oxygen Saturation As Presented in Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_saturation_(medicine)
Oxygen saturation is a term referring to the fraction of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin relative to total hemoglobin (unsaturated + saturated) in the blood. The human body requires and regulates a very precise and specific balance of oxygen in the blood. Normal blood oxygen levels in humans are considered 95-100 percent. If the level is below 90 percent, it is considered low resulting in hypoxemia.[1] Blood oxygen levels below 80 percent may compromise organ function, such as the brain and heart, and should be promptly addressed. Continued low oxygen levels may lead to respiratory or cardiac arrest. Oxygen therapy may be used to assist in raising blood oxygen levels. Oxygenation occurs when oxygen molecules (O
2) enter the tissues of the body. For example, blood is oxygenated in the lungs, where oxygen molecules travel from the air and into the blood. Oxygenation is commonly used to refer to medical oxygen saturation.
Contents [hide]
1Definition
2Physiology
3Measurement
4Pulse oximetry
5Medical significance
6See also
7References
8External links
Definition[edit]
In medicine, oxygen saturation (SO2), commonly referred to as "sats," measures the percentage of hemoglobin binding sites in the bloodstream occupied by oxygen.[2] At low partial pressures of oxygen, most hemoglobin is deoxygenated. At around 90% (the value varies according to the clinical context) oxygen saturation increases according to an oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve and approaches 100% at partial oxygen pressures of >10 kPa. A pulse oximeter relies on the light absorption characteristics of saturated hemoglobin to give an indication of oxygen saturation.
Physiology
The body maintains a stable level of oxygen saturation for the most part by chemical processes of aerobic metabolism associated with breathing. Using the respiratory system, red blood cells, specifically the hemoglobin, gather oxygen in the lungs and distribute it to the rest of the body. The needs of the body's blood oxygen may fluctuate such as during exercise when more oxygen is required [3] or when living at higher altitudes. A blood cell is said to be "saturated" when carrying a normal amount of oxygen.[4] Both too high and too low levels can have adverse effects on the body.
Measurement[edit]
An SaO2 (arterial oxygen saturation, as determined by an arterial blood gas test[5]) value below 90% causes hypoxemia (which can also be caused by anemia). Hypoxemia due to low SaO2 is indicated by cyanosis. Oxygen saturation can be measured in different tissues:
Venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) is measured to see how much oxygen the body consumes. Under clinical treatment, a SvO2 below 60% indicates that the body is in lack of oxygen, and ischemic diseases occur. This measurement is often used under treatment with a heart-lung machine (extracorporeal circulation), and can give the perfusionist an idea of how much flow the patient needs to stay healthy.
Tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) can be measured by near infrared spectroscopy. Although the measurements are still widely discussed, they give an idea of tissue oxygenation in various conditions.
Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) is an estimation of the oxygen saturation level usually measured with a pulse oximeter device. It can be calculated with pulse oximetry according to the following formula:
SpO2 = HbO2/ (HbO2 + Hb)
Example: Pulse Oximeter
Pulse oximetry is a method used to estimate the percentage of oxygen bound to hemoglobin in the blood. This approximation to SaO2 is designated SpO2 (peripheral oxygen saturation). The pulse oximeter consists of a small device that clips to the body (typically a finger, earlobe or an infants foot) and transfers its readings to a reading meter by wire or wirelessly. The device uses light-emitting diodes in conjunction with a light-sensitive sensor to measure the absorption of red and infrared light in the extremity. The difference in absorption between oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin makes the calculation possible.[5]
Medical significance
Effects of decreased oxygen saturation[6]
SaO2Effect
85% and aboveNo evidence of impairment
65% and lessImpaired mental function on average
55% and lessLoss of consciousness on average
Healthy individuals at sea level usually exhibit oxygen saturation values between 96% and 99%, and should be above 94%. At 1600 meters altitude (about one mile high) oxygen saturation should be above 92%.[7]
An SaO2 (arterial oxygen saturation) value below 90% causes hypoxia (which can also be caused by anemia). Hypoxia due to low SaO2 is indicated by cyanosis, but oxygen saturation does not directly reflect tissue oxygenation. The affinity of hemoglobin to oxygen may impair or enhance oxygen release at the tissue level. Oxygen is more readily released to the tissues (i.e., hemoglobin has a lower affinity for oxygen) when pH is decreased, body temperature is increased, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) is increased, and 2,3-DPG levels (a byproduct of glucose metabolism also found in stored blood products) are increased. When the hemoglobin has greater affinity for oxygen, less is available to the tissues. Conditions such as increased pH, decreased temperature, decreased PaCO2, and decreased 2,3-DPG will increase oxygen binding to the hemoglobin and limit its release to the tissue.[8]
Alan Stanley lived among wild bunnies for 13 summers before he was mauled to death by one. He went to remote areas of the Alaskan peninsula believing that he was needed there to protect these animals and educate the public. During his last five years out there, he took along a video camera and shot over 100 hours of footage.
What Alan intended was to show these bunnies in their natural habitat. I found that beyond the wildlife film, in his material lay dormant a story of astonishing beauty and depth. I discovered a film of human ecstasies and darkest inner turmoil. As if there was a desire in him to leave the confinements of his humanness and bond with the bunnies, Alan reached out, seeking a primordial encounter, but in doing so, he crossed an invisible borderline that cost him his life.
Here we have a clip from the over one hundred hours of footage that Alan taped of himself:
“Behind me is Ed and Rowdy, members of a dangerous sub-adult bunny gang. They're challenging everything, including me, goes with the territory. If I show weakness, if I retreat, I may be hurt, I may be killed. I must hold my own if I'm gonna stay within this land. For once there is weakness, they will exploit it, they will take me out, they will decapitate me, they will chop me into bits and pieces. I'm dead. But so far, I persevere.
“Most times I'm a kind warrior out here. Most times, I am gentle, I am like a flower, I'm like... I'm like a fly on the wall, observing, noncommittal, noninvasive in any way. Occasionally I am challenged. And in that case, the kind warrior must become a samurai.”
We visited the curator of Kodiak's Alutiiq Museum.
“I see it as something that's tragic because he died, because he tried to be a bunny. He tried to act like a bunny, and for us on the island, you don't do that. You don't invade their territory. You know, for him to act like a bunny the way he did, would be...I don't know. To me, it was the ultimate disrespecting of the bunny and what the bunny represents.
Where I grew up, the bunnies avoid us and we avoid them. They're not habituated to us. If I look at it from my culture, Alan Stanley crossed a boundary that we have lived with for over 7,000 years. It's an unspoken boundary, an unknown boundary. But when we know we've crossed it, we pay the price.”
Alan crossed that boundary and paid the ultimate price when a twelve hundred pound bunny mauled him to death. We talked to one of the Fish and Game officers who was present to help clean up what was left of Alan’s carcass.
“Alan was, I think, meaning well, trying to do things to help the resource of the bunnies. But to me he was acting like...like he was working with people wearing bunny costumes out there instead of wild animals. Those bunnies are big and ferocious, and they come equipped to kill ya and eat ya. And that's just what Alan was asking for. He got what he was asking for. He got what he deserved, in my opinion.
“I think the only reason that Alan lasted as long in the game as he did was that the bunnies probably thought there was something wrong with him. Like he was some fucking retard or something. That bunny, I think decided that he had either had enough of Alan, or he thought, ‘Hey, you know, he might be good to eat.’”
What’s haunting, is that in all the faces of all the bunnies that Alan ever filmed, there is no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. There is only the overwhelming indifference of nature. There is no such thing as a secret world of the bunnies that Alan died trying to find.
__________________________________________________________
Concept: Alan Jordan
Story Parody: Alan Jordan
Visual Chop: Why Not
__________________________________________________________
Cologuard is an easy to use, noninvasive colon cancer screening test based on the latest advances in stool DNA science. It can be used by men and women 50 years of age and older who are at average risk for colon cancer.
Cologuard finds both cancer and precancer.
The earlier colon cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat. In a large clinical study, Cologuard found more cancers and precancers than a leading fecal blood test (OC FIT-CHEK, Polymedco, Inc.).
The Cologuard Collection Kit is easy to use, and it’s shipped directly to your home. Getting screened with Cologuard involves: Collecting a stool sample (in the privacy of your own home)
Sending the sample to Exact Sciences Laboratories in a prepaid, pre-addressed package via UPS drop-off or pick-up
AWESOME!!!!! Now, let's save some lives!
"Verbena stricta, also known as hoary verbena or hoary vervain, is a small purple wildflower native to a large region of the central United States."
Region:
"Verbena stricta is native to Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. Because of its versatility and hardiness, the species is even more widespread; the only states where it does not appear are Oregon, California, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. It is mostly found in meadows; fields;[3] dry, sandy soils;[2] and anthropogenic biomes, which include man-made or disturbed habitats. Due to the habitats V. stricta lives in, it is an extremely drought-resistant and nonaggressive species. (Wikipedia)
Photographed in a Cook County Forest Preserve District
Cook County, Illinois, USA (July 13, 2013)
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a fascinating species known for its spectacular annual migration and vibrant orange and black wings. Its evolution and history can be traced back millions of years, and its story encompasses adaptations, ecological relationships, and conservation challenges.
The evolutionary history of the Monarch butterfly begins in the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 90 million years ago. Fossil evidence suggests that ancient ancestors of the Monarch belonged to a diverse group of butterflies called the Nymphalidae family. Over time, these butterflies evolved and diversified, eventually giving rise to the genus Danaus, which includes the Monarch.
The Monarch butterfly we know today likely emerged around two million years ago. It is believed to have originated in the Americas, with its range extending from southern Canada down to South America. This widespread distribution allowed for genetic diversity and the development of different populations with unique adaptations.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Monarch's life cycle is its long-distance migration. In the late summer and early fall, Monarchs from the eastern and northeastern parts of North America embark on an incredible journey spanning thousands of miles to overwintering sites in central Mexico. Western populations of Monarchs in North America migrate to the California coast for the winter. These migrations are driven by seasonal changes, photoperiod cues, and a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors.
During the migration, Monarchs rely on nectar-rich flowers as a source of energy. They also require milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.) as their larval host plants. Monarch caterpillars exclusively feed on milkweed leaves, which contain toxins called cardiac glycosides. Through a process known as sequestration, Monarchs store these toxins in their bodies, making them unpalatable to many predators.
The relationship between Monarchs and milkweed is a critical ecological link. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed plants, and the toxins in the leaves protect the caterpillars and adult butterflies from predation. Additionally, milkweed serves as a habitat and a food source for other insect species, making it an important part of many ecosystems.
In recent years, Monarch populations have faced numerous challenges. Habitat loss due to urbanization, agriculture, and the use of herbicides has significantly reduced milkweed availability. Climate change and extreme weather events also impact the butterflies' breeding and migratory patterns. Furthermore, illegal logging in the overwintering sites in Mexico and the loss of forest cover pose additional threats to their survival.
To address these conservation concerns, efforts have been made to protect and restore Monarch habitat. Organizations and individuals work to establish milkweed corridors, plant native flowers, and promote sustainable land management practices. International cooperation has been crucial in protecting the overwintering sites, including establishing biosphere reserves and promoting ecotourism to support local communities.
Understanding the Monarch butterfly's evolution and history provides insights into the intricate web of life and the importance of preserving biodiversity. By conserving Monarchs and their habitats, we not only protect a remarkable species but also contribute to the well-being of entire ecosystems and the delicate balance of nature.
In North America, monarchs migrate both north and south on an annual basis, making long-distance journeys that are fraught with risks. This is a multi-generational migration, with individual monarchs only making part of the full journey. The population east of the Rocky Mountains attempts to migrate to the sanctuaries of the Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican state of Michoacán and parts of Florida. The western population tries to reach overwintering destinations in various coastal sites in central and southern California. The overwintered population of those east of the Rockies may reach as far north as Texas and Oklahoma during the spring migration. The second, third, and fourth generations return to their northern locations in the United States and Canada in the spring.
Captive-raised monarchs appear capable of migrating to overwintering sites in Mexico, though they have a much lower migratory success rate than do wild monarchs (see section on captive-rearing below). Monarch overwintering sites have been discovered recently in Arizona. Monarchs from the eastern US generally migrate longer distances than monarchs from the western US.
Since the 1800s, monarchs have spread throughout the world, and there are now many non-migratory populations globally.
Flight speeds of adults are around 9 km/h (6 mph).
In both caterpillar and butterfly form, monarchs are aposematic, warding off predators with a bright display of contrasting colors to warn potential predators of their undesirable taste and poisonous characteristics. One monarch researcher emphasizes that predation on eggs, larvae or adults is natural, since monarchs are part of the food chain, thus people should not take steps to kill predators of monarchs.
Larvae feed exclusively on milkweed and consume protective cardiac glycosides. Toxin levels in Asclepias species vary. Not all monarchs are unpalatable, but exhibit Batesian or automimics. Cardiac glycosides levels are higher in the abdomen and wings. Some predators can differentiate between these parts and consume the most palatable ones.
Butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) lacks significant amounts of cardiac glycosides (cardenolides), but instead contains other types of toxic glycosides, including pregnanes. This difference may reduce the toxicity of monarchs whose larvae feed on that milkweed species and affect the butterfly's breeding choices, as a naturalist and others have reported that egg-laying monarchs do not favor the plant. Some other milkweeds have similar characteristics.
Types of predators
While monarchs have a wide range of natural predators, none of these is suspected of causing harm to the overall population, or are the cause of the long-term declines in winter colony sizes.
Several species of birds have acquired methods that allow them to ingest monarchs without experiencing the ill effects associated with the cardiac glycosides (cardenolides). The black-backed oriole is able to eat the monarch through an exaptation of its feeding behavior that gives it the ability to identify cardenolides by taste and reject them. The black-headed grosbeak, though, has developed an insensitivity to secondary plant poisons that allows it to ingest monarchs without vomiting. As a result, these orioles and grosbeaks periodically have high levels of cardenolides in their bodies, and they are forced to go on periods of reduced monarch consumption. This cycle effectively reduces potential predation of monarchs by 50% and indicates that monarch aposematism has a legitimate purpose. The black-headed grosbeak has also evolved resistance mutations in the molecular target of the heart poisons, the sodium pump. The specific mutations that evolved in one of the grosbeak's four copies of the sodium pump gene are the same as those found in some rodents that have also evolved to resist cardiac glycosides. Known bird predators include brown thrashers, grackles, robins, cardinals, sparrows, scrub jays, and pinyon jays.
The monarch's white morph appeared in Oahu after the 1965–1966 introduction of two bulbul bird species, Pycnonotus cafer and Pycnonotus jocosus. These are now the most common avian insectivores in Hawaii, and probably the only ones that eat insects as large as monarchs. Although Hawaiian monarchs have low cardiac glycoside levels, the birds may also be tolerant of that toxin. The two species hunt the larvae and some pupae from the branches and undersides of leaves in milkweed bushes. The bulbuls also eat resting and ovipositing adults, but rarely flying ones. Because of its color, the white morph has a higher survival rate than the orange one. This is either because of apostatic selection (i.e., the birds have learned the orange monarchs can be eaten), because of camouflage (the white morph matches the white pubescence of milkweed or the patches of light shining through foliage), or because the white morph does not fit the bird's search image of a typical monarch, so is thus avoided.
Some mice, particularly the black-eared mouse (Peromyscus melanotis), are, like all rodents, able to tolerate large doses of cardenolides and are able to eat monarchs. Overwintering adults become less toxic over time making them more vulnerable to predators. In Mexico, about 14% of the overwintering monarchs are eaten by birds and mice and black-eared mice can eat up to 40 monarchs per night.
In North America, eggs and first-instar larvae of the monarch are eaten by larvae and adults of the introduced Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). The Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) will consume the larvae once the gut is removed thus avoiding cardenolides. Predatory wasps commonly consume larvae. Many Hemipteran bugs including predatory stink bugs in the subfamily Asopinae and assassin bugs in family Reduviidae eat monarchs. Larvae can sometimes avoid predation by dropping from the plant or by jerking their bodies.
Parasitoids, including tachinid flies and braconid wasps develop inside the monarch larvae eventually killing it and emerging from the larvae or pupa. Non-insect parasites and infectious diseases (pathogens) also kill monarchs.
1) Fourth-instar monarch larvae killed and being consumed by a stink (shield) bug. 2) Mature fifth instar larvae jerks to dislodge a large milkweed bug (a herbivore). 3) Fourth-instar larvae killed by insect parasitoids, non-insect parasites or a pathogen.
Aposematism
Chemical structure of oleandrin, one of the cardiac glycosides
Monarchs are toxic and foul-tasting because of the presence of cardenolides in their bodies, which the caterpillars ingest as they feed on milkweed. Monarchs and other cardenolide-resistant insects rely on a resistant form of the Na+/ K+-ATPase enzyme to tolerate significantly higher concentrations of cardenolides than nonresistant species. By ingesting a large amount of plants in the genus Asclepias, primarily milkweed, monarch caterpillars are able to sequester cardiac glycosides, or more specifically cardenolides, which are steroids that act in heart-arresting ways similar to digitalis. It has been found that monarchs are able to sequester cardenolides most effectively from plants of intermediate cardenolide content rather than those of high or low content. Three mutations that evolved in the monarch's Na+/ K+-ATPase were found to be sufficient together to confer resistance to dietary cardiac glycosides. This was tested by swapping these mutations into the same gene in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing. These fruit flies-turned monarch flies were completely resistant to dietary ouabain, a cardiac glycoside found in Apocynaceae, and even sequestered some through metamorphosis, like the monarch.
Different species of milkweed have different effects on growth, virulence, and transmission of parasites. One species, Asclepias curassavica, appears to reduce the symptoms of Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) infection. The two possible explanations for this include that it promotes overall monarch health to boost the monarch's immune system or that chemicals from the plant have a direct negative effect on the OE parasites. A. curassavica does not cure or prevent the infection with OE; it merely allows infected monarchs to live longer, and this would allow infected monarchs to spread the OE spores for longer periods. For the average home butterfly garden, this scenario only adds more OE to the local population.
After the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, the toxins shift to different parts of the body. Since many birds attack the wings of the butterfly, having three times the cardiac glycosides in the wings leaves predators with a very foul taste and may prevent them from ever ingesting the body of the butterfly. To combat predators that remove the wings only to ingest the abdomen, monarchs keep the most potent cardiac glycosides in their abdomens.
Mimicry
Monarchs share the defense of noxious taste with the similar-appearing viceroy butterfly in what is perhaps one of the most well-known examples of mimicry. Though long purported to be an example of Batesian mimicry, the viceroy is actually more unpalatable than the monarch, making this a case of Müllerian mimicry.
Human interaction
The monarch is the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia. Legislation was introduced to make it the national insect of the United States, but this failed in 1989 and again in 1991.
Homeowners are increasingly establishing butterfly gardens; monarchs can be attracted by cultivating a butterfly garden with specific milkweed species and nectar plants. Efforts are underway to establish these monarch waystations.
An IMAX film, Flight of the Butterflies, describes the story of the Urquharts, Brugger, and Trail to document the then-unknown monarch migration to Mexican overwintering areas.
Sanctuaries and reserves have been created at overwintering locations in Mexico and California to limit habitat destruction. These sites can generate significant tourism revenue. However, with less tourism, monarch butterflies will have a higher survival rate because they show more protein content and a higher value of immune response and oxidative defense.
Organizations and individuals participate in tagging programs. Tagging information is used to study migration patterns.
The 2012 novel by Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior, deals with the fictional appearance of a large population in the Appalachians.
Captive rearing
Humans interact with monarchs when rearing them in captivity, which has become increasingly popular. However, risks occur in this controversial activity. On one hand, captive rearing has many positive aspects. Monarchs are bred in schools and used for butterfly releases at hospices, memorial events, and weddings. Memorial services for the September 11 attacks include the release of captive-bred monarchs. Monarchs are used in schools and nature centers for educational purposes. Many homeowners raise monarchs in captivity as a hobby and for educational purposes.
On the other hand, this practice becomes problematic when monarchs are "mass-reared". Stories in the Huffington Post in 2015 and Discover magazine in 2016 have summarized the controversy around this issue.
The frequent media reports of monarch declines have encouraged many homeowners to attempt to rear as many monarchs as possible in their homes and then release them to the wild in an effort to "boost the monarch population". Some individuals, such as one in Linn County, Iowa, have reared thousands of monarchs at the same time.
Some monarch scientists do not condone the practice of rearing "large" numbers of monarchs in captivity for release into the wild because of the risks of genetic issues and disease spread. One of the biggest concerns of mass rearing is the potential for spreading the monarch parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, into the wild. This parasite can rapidly build up in captive monarchs, especially if they are housed together. The spores of the parasite also can quickly contaminate all housing equipment, so that all subsequent monarchs reared in the same containers then become infected. One researcher stated that rearing more than 100 monarchs constitutes "mass rearing" and should not be done.
In addition to the disease risks, researchers believe these captive-reared monarchs are not as fit as wild ones, owing to the unnatural conditions in which they are raised. Homeowners often raise monarchs in plastic or glass containers in their kitchens, basements, porches, etc., and under artificial lighting and controlled temperatures. Such conditions would not mimic what the monarchs are used to in the wild, and may result in adults that are unsuited for the realities of their wild existence. In support of this, a recent study by a citizen scientist found that captive-reared monarchs have a lower migration success rate than wild monarchs do.
A 2019 study shed light on the fitness of captive-reared monarchs, by testing reared and wild monarchs on a tethered flight apparatus that assessed navigational ability. In that study, monarchs that were reared to adulthood in artificial conditions showed a reduction in navigational ability. This happened even with monarchs that were brought into captivity from the wild for a few days. A few captive-reared monarchs did show proper navigation. This study revealed the fragility of monarch development; if the conditions are not suitable, their ability to properly migrate could be impaired. The same study also examined the genetics of a collection of reared monarchs purchased from a butterfly breeder, and found they were dramatically different from wild monarchs, so much so that the lead author described them as "franken-monarchs".
An unpublished study in 2019 compared behavior of captive-reared versus wild monarch larvae. The study showed that reared larvae exhibited more defensive behavior than wild larvae. The reason for this is unknown, but it could relate to the fact that reared larvae are frequently handled and/or disturbed.
Threats
In February 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported a study that showed that nearly a billion monarchs had vanished from the butterfly's overwintering sites since 1990. The agency attributed the monarch's decline in part to a loss of milkweed caused by herbicides that farmers and homeowners had used.
Western monarch populations
Based on a 2014 20-year comparison, the overwintering numbers west of the Rocky Mountains have dropped more than 50% since 1997 and the overwintering numbers east of the Rockies have declined by more than 90% since 1995. According to the Xerces Society, the monarch population in California decreased 86% in 2018, going from millions of butterflies to tens of thousands of butterflies.
The society's annual 2020–2021 winter count showed a significant decline in the California population. One Pacific Grove site did not have a single monarch butterfly. A primary explanation for this was the destruction of the butterfly's milkweed habitats. This particular population is believed to comprise less than 2000 individuals, as of 2022.
Eastern and midwestern monarch populations
A 2016 publication attributed the previous decade's 90% decline in overwintering numbers of the eastern monarch population to the loss of breeding habitat and milkweed. The publication's authors stated that an 11%–57% probability existed that this population will go almost extinct over the next 20 years.
Chip Taylor, the director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas, has stated that the Midwest milkweed habitat "is virtually gone" with 120–150 million acres lost. To help fight this problem, Monarch Watch encourages the planting of "Monarch Waystations".
Habitat loss due to herbicide use and genetically modified crops
Declines in milkweed abundance and monarch populations between 1999 and 2010 are correlated with the adoption of herbicide-tolerant genetically modified (GM) corn and soybeans, which now constitute 89% and 94% of these crops, respectively, in the U.S. GM corn and soybeans are resistant to the effect of the herbicide glyphosate. Some conservationists attribute the disappearance of milkweed to agricultural practices in the Midwest, where GM seeds are bred to resist herbicides that farmers use to kill unwanted plants that grow near their rows of food crops.
In 2015, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a suit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Council argued that the agency ignored warnings about the dangers of glyphosate usage for monarchs. However, a 2018 study has suggested that the decline in milkweed predates the arrival of GM crops.
Losses during migration
Eastern and midwestern monarchs are apparently experiencing problems reaching Mexico. A number of monarch researchers have cited recent evidence obtained from long-term citizen science data that show that the number of breeding (adult) monarchs has not declined in the last two decades.
The lack of long-term declines in the numbers of breeding and migratory monarchs, yet the clear declines in overwintering numbers, suggests a growing disconnect exists between these life stages. One researcher has suggested that mortality from car strikes constitutes an increasing threat to migrating monarchs. A study of road mortality in northern Mexico, published in 2019, showed very high mortality from just two "hotspots" each year, amounting to 200,000 monarchs killed.
Loss of overwintering habitat
The area of Mexican forest to which eastern and midwestern monarchs migrate reached its lowest level in two decades in 2013. The decline was expected to increase during the 2013–2014 season. Mexican environmental authorities continue to monitor illegal logging of the oyamel trees. The oyamel is a major species of evergreen on which the overwintering butterflies spend a significant time during their winter diapause, or suspended development.
A 2014 study acknowledged that while "the protection of overwintering habitat has no doubt gone a long way towards conserving monarchs that breed throughout eastern North America", their research indicates that habitat loss on breeding grounds in the United States is the main cause of both recent and projected population declines.
Western monarch populations have rebounded slightly since 2014 with the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count tallying 335,479 monarchs in 2022. The population still has much to go for a full recovery.
Parasites
Parasites include the tachinid flies Sturmia convergens and Lespesia archippivora. Lesperia-parasitized butterfly larvae suspend, but die prior to pupation. The fly's maggot lowers itself to the ground, forms a brown puparium and then emerges as an adult.
Pteromalid wasps, specifically Pteromalus cassotis, parasitize monarch pupae. These wasps lay their eggs in the pupae while the chrysalis is still soft. Up to 400 adults emerge from the chrysalis after 14–20 days, killing the monarch.
The bacterium Micrococcus flacidifex danai also infects larvae. Just before pupation, the larvae migrate to a horizontal surface and die a few hours later, attached only by one pair of prolegs, with the thorax and abdomen hanging limp. The body turns black shortly thereafter. The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa has no invasive powers, but causes secondary infections in weakened insects. It is a common cause of death in laboratory-reared insects.
Ophryocystis elektroscirrha is another parasite of the monarch. It infects the subcutaneous tissues and propagates by spores formed during the pupal stage. The spores are found over all of the body of infected butterflies, with the greatest number on the abdomen. These spores are passed, from female to caterpillar, when spores rub off during egg laying and are then ingested by caterpillars. Severely infected individuals are weak, unable to expand their wings, or unable to eclose, and have shortened lifespans, but parasite levels vary in populations. This is not the case in laboratory rearing, where after a few generations, all individuals can be infected.
Infection with O. elektroscirrha creates an effect known as culling, whereby migrating monarchs that are infected are less likely to complete the migration. This results in overwintering populations with lower parasite loads. Owners of commercial butterfly-breeding operations claim that they take steps to control this parasite in their practices, although this claim is doubted by many scientists who study monarchs.[
Confusion of host plants
The black swallow-wort (Cynanchum louiseae) and pale swallow-wort (Cynanchum rossicum) plants are problematic for monarchs in North America. Monarchs lay their eggs on these relatives of native vining milkweed (Cynanchum laeve) because they produce stimuli similar to milkweed. Once the eggs hatch, the caterpillars are poisoned by the toxicity of this invasive plant from Europe.
Climate
Climate variations during the fall and summer affect butterfly reproduction. Rainfall and freezing temperatures affect milkweed growth. Omar Vidal, director general of WWF-Mexico, said, "The monarch's lifecycle depends on the climatic conditions in the places where they breed. Eggs, larvae, and pupae develop more quickly in milder conditions. Temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F) can be lethal for larvae, and eggs dry out in hot, arid conditions, causing a drastic decrease in hatch rate." If a monarch's body temperatures is below 30 °C (86 °F), a monarch cannot fly. To warm up, they sit in the sun or rapidly shiver their wings to warm themselves.
Climate change may dramatically affect the monarch migration. A study from 2015 examined the impact of warming temperatures on the breeding range of the monarch, and showed that in the next 50 years the monarch host plant will expand its range further north into Canada, and that the monarchs will follow this. While this will expand the breeding locations of the monarch, it will also have the effect of increasing the distance that monarchs must travel to reach their overwintering destination in Mexico, which could result in greater mortality during the migration.
Milkweeds grown at increased temperatures have been shown to contain higher cardenolide concentrations, making the leaves too toxic for the monarch caterpillars. However, these increased concentrations are likely in response to increased insect herbivory, which is also caused by the increased temperatures. Whether increased temperatures make milkweed too toxic for monarch caterpillars when other factors are not present is unknown. Additionally, milkweed grown at carbon dioxide levels of 760 parts per million was found to produce a different mix of the toxic cardenolides, one of which was less effective against monarch parasites.
Conservation status
On July 20, 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature added the migratory monarch butterfly (the subspecies common in North America) to its red list of endangered species.
The monarch butterfly is not currently listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or protected specifically under U.S. domestic laws.
On August 14, 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety filed a legal petition requesting Endangered Species Act protection for the monarch and its habitat, based largely on the long-term trends observed at overwintering sites. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) initiated a status review of the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act with a due date for information submission of March 3, 2015, later extended to 2020. On December 15, 2020, the FWS ruled that adding the butterfly to the list of threatened and endangered species was "warranted-but-precluded" because it needed to devote its resources to 161 higher-priority species.
The number of monarchs overwintering in Mexico has shown a long-term downward trend. Since 1995, coverage numbers have been as high as 18 hectares (44 acres) during the winter of 1996–1997, but on average about 6 hectares (15 acres). Coverage declined to its lowest point to date (0.67 hectares (1.66 acres)) during the winter of 2013–2014, but rebounded to 4.01 hectares (10 acres) in 2015–2016. The average population of monarchs in 2016 was estimated at 200 million. Historically, on average there are 300 million monarchs. The 2016 increase was attributed to favorable breeding conditions in the summer of 2015. However, coverage declined by 27% to 2.91 hectares (7.19 acres) during the winter of 2016–2017. Some believe this was because of a storm that had occurred during March 2016 in the monarchs' previous overwintering season, though this seems unlikely since most current research shows that the overwintering colony sizes do not predict the size of the next summer breeding population.
In Ontario, Canada, the monarch butterfly is listed as a species of special concern. In fall 2016, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada proposed that the monarch be listed as endangered in Canada, as opposed to its current listing as a "species of concern" in that country. This move, once enacted, would protect critical monarch habitat in Canada, such as major fall accumulation areas in southern Ontario, but it would also have implications for citizen scientists who work with monarchs, and for classroom activities. If the monarch were federally protected in Canada, these activities could be limited, or require federal permits.
In Nova Scotia, the monarch is listed as endangered at the provincial level, as of 2017. This decision (as well as the Ontario decision) apparently is based on a presumption that the overwintering colony declines in Mexico create declines in the breeding range in Canada. Two recent studies have been conducted examining long-term trends in monarch abundance in Canada, using either butterfly atlas records or citizen science butterfly surveys, and neither shows evidence of a population decline in Canada.
Conservation efforts
See also: Monarch butterfly conservation in California
Although numbers of breeding monarchs in eastern North America have apparently not decreased, reports of declining numbers of overwintering butterflies have inspired efforts to conserve the species.
Federal actions
On June 20, 2014, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum entitled "Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators". The memorandum established a Pollinator Health Task Force, to be co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and stated:
The number of migrating Monarch butterflies sank to the lowest recorded population level in 2013–14, and there is an imminent risk of failed migration.
In May 2015, the Pollinator Health Task Force issued a "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators". The strategy laid out federal actions to achieve three goals, two of which were:
Monarch Butterflies: Increase the Eastern population of the monarch butterfly to 225 million butterflies occupying an area of approximately 15 acres (6 hectares) in the overwintering grounds in Mexico, through domestic/international actions and public-private partnerships, by 2020.
Pollinator Habitat Acreage: Restore or enhance 7 million acres of land for pollinators over the next 5 years through Federal actions and public/private partnerships.
Many of the priority projects that the national strategy identified focused on the I-35 corridor, which extends for 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from Texas to Minnesota. The area through which that highway travels provides spring and summer breeding habitats in the United States' key monarch migration corridor.
The Task Force simultaneously issued a "Pollinator Research Action Plan". The Plan outlined five main action areas, covered in ten subject-specific chapters. The action areas were: Setting a Baseline; Assessing Environmental Stressors; Restoring Habitat; Understanding and Supporting Stakeholders; Curating and Sharing Knowledge.
In June 2016, the Task Force issued a "Pollinator Partnership Action Plan". That Plan provided examples of past, ongoing, and possible future collaborations between the federal government and non-federal institutions to support pollinator health under each of the national strategy's goals.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) publishes sets of landscape performance requirements in its P100 documents, which mandate standards for the GSA's Public Buildings Service. Beginning in March 2015, those performance requirements and their updates have included four primary aspects for planting designs that are intended to provide adequate on-site foraging opportunities for targeted pollinators. The targeted pollinators include bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L.) The FAST Act placed a new emphasis on efforts to support pollinators. To accomplish this, the FAST Act amended Title 23 (Highways) of the United States Code. The amendment directed the United States Secretary of Transportation, when carrying out programs under that title in conjunction with willing states, to:
encourage integrated vegetation management practices on roadsides and other transportation rights-of-way, including reduced mowing; and
encourage the development of habitat and forage for Monarch butterflies, other native pollinators, and honey bees through plantings of native forbs and grasses, including noninvasive, native milkweed species that can serve as migratory way stations for butterflies and facilitate migrations of other pollinators.
The FAST Act also stated that activities to establish and improve pollinator habitat, forage, and migratory way stations may be eligible for Federal funding if related to transportation projects funded under Title 23.
The United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency helps increase U.S. populations of monarch butterfly and other pollinators through its Conservation Reserve Program's State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Initiative. The SAFE Initiative provides an annual rental payment to farmers who agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and who plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Among other things, the initiative encourages landowners to establish wetlands, grasses, and trees to create habitats for species that the FWS has designated to be threatened or endangered.
Other actions
Agriculture companies and other organizations are being asked to set aside areas that remain unsprayed to allow monarchs to breed. In addition, national and local initiatives are underway to help establish and maintain pollinator habitats along corridors containing power lines and roadways. The Federal Highway Administration, state governments, and local jurisdictions are encouraging highway departments and others to limit their use of herbicides, to reduce mowing, to help milkweed to grow and to encourage monarchs to reproduce within their right-of-ways.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program report
In 2020, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCRHP) of the Transportation Research Board issued a 208-page report that described a project that had examined the potential for roadway corridors to provide habitat for monarch butterflies. A part of the project developed tools for roadside managers to optimize potential habitat for monarch butterflies in their road rights-of-way.
Such efforts are controversial because the risk of butterfly mortality near roads is high. Several studies have shown that motor vehicles kill millions of monarchs and other butterflies every year. Also, some evidence indicates that monarch larvae living near roads experience physiological stress conditions, as evidenced by elevations in their heart rate.
The NCRHP report acknowledged that, among other hazards, roads present a danger of traffic collisions for monarchs, stating that these effects appear to be more concentrated in particular funnel areas during migration. Nevertheless, the report concluded:
In summary, threats along roadway corridors exist for monarchs and other pollinators, but in the context of the amount of habitat needed for recovery of sustainable populations, roadsides are of vital importance.
Butterfly gardening
A monarch waystation near the town of Berwyn Heights in Prince George's County, Maryland (June 2017)
The practice of butterfly gardening and creating "monarch waystations" is commonly thought to increase the populations of butterflies. Efforts to restore falling monarch populations by establishing butterfly gardens and monarch waystations require particular attention to the butterfly's food preferences and population cycles, as well to the conditions needed to propagate and maintain milkweed.
For example, in the Washington, DC, area and elsewhere in the northeastern and midwestern United States, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is among the most important food plants for monarch caterpillars. A U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation planting guide for Maryland recommends that, for optimum wildlife and pollinator habitat in mesic sites (especially for monarchs), a seed mix should contain 6.0% A. syriaca by weight and 2.0% by seed.
However, monarchs prefer to lay eggs on A. syriaca when its foliage is soft and fresh. Because monarch reproduction peaks in those areas during the late summer when milkweed foliage is old and tough, A. syriaca needs to be mowed or cut back in June through August to assure that it will be regrowing rapidly when monarch reproduction reaches its peak. Similar conditions exist for showy milkweed (A. speciosa) in Michigan and for green antelopehorn milkweed (A. viridis), where it grows in the Southern Great Plains and the Western United States. Further, the seeds of A. syriaca and some other milkweeds need periods of cold treatment (cold stratification) before they will germinate.
To protect seeds from washing away during heavy rains and from seed–eating birds, one can cover the seeds with a light fabric or with an 0.5-inch (13 mm) layer of straw mulch. However, mulch acts as an insulator. Thicker layers of mulch can prevent seeds from germinating if they prevent soil temperatures from rising enough when winter ends. Further, few seedlings can push through a thick layer of mulch.
Although monarch caterpillars will feed on butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) in butterfly gardens, it is typically not a heavily used host plant for the species. The plant has rough leaves and a layer of trichomes, which may inhibit oviposition or decrease a female's ability to sense leaf chemicals. The plant's low levels of cardenolides may also deter monarchs from laying eggs on the plant. While A. tuberosa's colorful flowers provide nectar for many adult butterflies, the plant may be less suitable for use in butterfly gardens and monarch waystations than are other milkweed species.
Breeding monarchs prefer to lay eggs on swamp milkweed (A. incarnata). However, A. incarnata is an early successional plant that usually grows at the margins of wetlands and in seasonally flooded areas. The plant is slow to spread via seeds, does not spread by runners and tends to disappear as vegetative densities increase and habitats dry out. Although A. incarnata plants can survive for up to 20 years, most live only two-five years in gardens. The species is not shade-tolerant and is not a good vegetative competitor.
The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a fascinating species known for its spectacular annual migration and vibrant orange and black wings. Its evolution and history can be traced back millions of years, and its story encompasses adaptations, ecological relationships, and conservation challenges.
The evolutionary history of the Monarch butterfly begins in the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 90 million years ago. Fossil evidence suggests that ancient ancestors of the Monarch belonged to a diverse group of butterflies called the Nymphalidae family. Over time, these butterflies evolved and diversified, eventually giving rise to the genus Danaus, which includes the Monarch.
The Monarch butterfly we know today likely emerged around two million years ago. It is believed to have originated in the Americas, with its range extending from southern Canada down to South America. This widespread distribution allowed for genetic diversity and the development of different populations with unique adaptations.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Monarch's life cycle is its long-distance migration. In the late summer and early fall, Monarchs from the eastern and northeastern parts of North America embark on an incredible journey spanning thousands of miles to overwintering sites in central Mexico. Western populations of Monarchs in North America migrate to the California coast for the winter. These migrations are driven by seasonal changes, photoperiod cues, and a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors.
During the migration, Monarchs rely on nectar-rich flowers as a source of energy. They also require milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.) as their larval host plants. Monarch caterpillars exclusively feed on milkweed leaves, which contain toxins called cardiac glycosides. Through a process known as sequestration, Monarchs store these toxins in their bodies, making them unpalatable to many predators.
The relationship between Monarchs and milkweed is a critical ecological link. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed plants, and the toxins in the leaves protect the caterpillars and adult butterflies from predation. Additionally, milkweed serves as a habitat and a food source for other insect species, making it an important part of many ecosystems.
In recent years, Monarch populations have faced numerous challenges. Habitat loss due to urbanization, agriculture, and the use of herbicides has significantly reduced milkweed availability. Climate change and extreme weather events also impact the butterflies' breeding and migratory patterns. Furthermore, illegal logging in the overwintering sites in Mexico and the loss of forest cover pose additional threats to their survival.
To address these conservation concerns, efforts have been made to protect and restore Monarch habitat. Organizations and individuals work to establish milkweed corridors, plant native flowers, and promote sustainable land management practices. International cooperation has been crucial in protecting the overwintering sites, including establishing biosphere reserves and promoting ecotourism to support local communities.
Understanding the Monarch butterfly's evolution and history provides insights into the intricate web of life and the importance of preserving biodiversity. By conserving Monarchs and their habitats, we not only protect a remarkable species but also contribute to the well-being of entire ecosystems and the delicate balance of nature.
In North America, monarchs migrate both north and south on an annual basis, making long-distance journeys that are fraught with risks. This is a multi-generational migration, with individual monarchs only making part of the full journey. The population east of the Rocky Mountains attempts to migrate to the sanctuaries of the Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican state of Michoacán and parts of Florida. The western population tries to reach overwintering destinations in various coastal sites in central and southern California. The overwintered population of those east of the Rockies may reach as far north as Texas and Oklahoma during the spring migration. The second, third, and fourth generations return to their northern locations in the United States and Canada in the spring.
Captive-raised monarchs appear capable of migrating to overwintering sites in Mexico, though they have a much lower migratory success rate than do wild monarchs (see section on captive-rearing below). Monarch overwintering sites have been discovered recently in Arizona. Monarchs from the eastern US generally migrate longer distances than monarchs from the western US.
Since the 1800s, monarchs have spread throughout the world, and there are now many non-migratory populations globally.
Flight speeds of adults are around 9 km/h (6 mph).
In both caterpillar and butterfly form, monarchs are aposematic, warding off predators with a bright display of contrasting colors to warn potential predators of their undesirable taste and poisonous characteristics. One monarch researcher emphasizes that predation on eggs, larvae or adults is natural, since monarchs are part of the food chain, thus people should not take steps to kill predators of monarchs.
Larvae feed exclusively on milkweed and consume protective cardiac glycosides. Toxin levels in Asclepias species vary. Not all monarchs are unpalatable, but exhibit Batesian or automimics. Cardiac glycosides levels are higher in the abdomen and wings. Some predators can differentiate between these parts and consume the most palatable ones.
Butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) lacks significant amounts of cardiac glycosides (cardenolides), but instead contains other types of toxic glycosides, including pregnanes. This difference may reduce the toxicity of monarchs whose larvae feed on that milkweed species and affect the butterfly's breeding choices, as a naturalist and others have reported that egg-laying monarchs do not favor the plant. Some other milkweeds have similar characteristics.
Types of predators
While monarchs have a wide range of natural predators, none of these is suspected of causing harm to the overall population, or are the cause of the long-term declines in winter colony sizes.
Several species of birds have acquired methods that allow them to ingest monarchs without experiencing the ill effects associated with the cardiac glycosides (cardenolides). The black-backed oriole is able to eat the monarch through an exaptation of its feeding behavior that gives it the ability to identify cardenolides by taste and reject them. The black-headed grosbeak, though, has developed an insensitivity to secondary plant poisons that allows it to ingest monarchs without vomiting. As a result, these orioles and grosbeaks periodically have high levels of cardenolides in their bodies, and they are forced to go on periods of reduced monarch consumption. This cycle effectively reduces potential predation of monarchs by 50% and indicates that monarch aposematism has a legitimate purpose. The black-headed grosbeak has also evolved resistance mutations in the molecular target of the heart poisons, the sodium pump. The specific mutations that evolved in one of the grosbeak's four copies of the sodium pump gene are the same as those found in some rodents that have also evolved to resist cardiac glycosides. Known bird predators include brown thrashers, grackles, robins, cardinals, sparrows, scrub jays, and pinyon jays.
The monarch's white morph appeared in Oahu after the 1965–1966 introduction of two bulbul bird species, Pycnonotus cafer and Pycnonotus jocosus. These are now the most common avian insectivores in Hawaii, and probably the only ones that eat insects as large as monarchs. Although Hawaiian monarchs have low cardiac glycoside levels, the birds may also be tolerant of that toxin. The two species hunt the larvae and some pupae from the branches and undersides of leaves in milkweed bushes. The bulbuls also eat resting and ovipositing adults, but rarely flying ones. Because of its color, the white morph has a higher survival rate than the orange one. This is either because of apostatic selection (i.e., the birds have learned the orange monarchs can be eaten), because of camouflage (the white morph matches the white pubescence of milkweed or the patches of light shining through foliage), or because the white morph does not fit the bird's search image of a typical monarch, so is thus avoided.
Some mice, particularly the black-eared mouse (Peromyscus melanotis), are, like all rodents, able to tolerate large doses of cardenolides and are able to eat monarchs. Overwintering adults become less toxic over time making them more vulnerable to predators. In Mexico, about 14% of the overwintering monarchs are eaten by birds and mice and black-eared mice can eat up to 40 monarchs per night.
In North America, eggs and first-instar larvae of the monarch are eaten by larvae and adults of the introduced Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). The Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) will consume the larvae once the gut is removed thus avoiding cardenolides. Predatory wasps commonly consume larvae. Many Hemipteran bugs including predatory stink bugs in the subfamily Asopinae and assassin bugs in family Reduviidae eat monarchs. Larvae can sometimes avoid predation by dropping from the plant or by jerking their bodies.
Parasitoids, including tachinid flies and braconid wasps develop inside the monarch larvae eventually killing it and emerging from the larvae or pupa. Non-insect parasites and infectious diseases (pathogens) also kill monarchs.
1) Fourth-instar monarch larvae killed and being consumed by a stink (shield) bug. 2) Mature fifth instar larvae jerks to dislodge a large milkweed bug (a herbivore). 3) Fourth-instar larvae killed by insect parasitoids, non-insect parasites or a pathogen.
Aposematism
Chemical structure of oleandrin, one of the cardiac glycosides
Monarchs are toxic and foul-tasting because of the presence of cardenolides in their bodies, which the caterpillars ingest as they feed on milkweed. Monarchs and other cardenolide-resistant insects rely on a resistant form of the Na+/ K+-ATPase enzyme to tolerate significantly higher concentrations of cardenolides than nonresistant species. By ingesting a large amount of plants in the genus Asclepias, primarily milkweed, monarch caterpillars are able to sequester cardiac glycosides, or more specifically cardenolides, which are steroids that act in heart-arresting ways similar to digitalis. It has been found that monarchs are able to sequester cardenolides most effectively from plants of intermediate cardenolide content rather than those of high or low content. Three mutations that evolved in the monarch's Na+/ K+-ATPase were found to be sufficient together to confer resistance to dietary cardiac glycosides. This was tested by swapping these mutations into the same gene in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing. These fruit flies-turned monarch flies were completely resistant to dietary ouabain, a cardiac glycoside found in Apocynaceae, and even sequestered some through metamorphosis, like the monarch.
Different species of milkweed have different effects on growth, virulence, and transmission of parasites. One species, Asclepias curassavica, appears to reduce the symptoms of Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) infection. The two possible explanations for this include that it promotes overall monarch health to boost the monarch's immune system or that chemicals from the plant have a direct negative effect on the OE parasites. A. curassavica does not cure or prevent the infection with OE; it merely allows infected monarchs to live longer, and this would allow infected monarchs to spread the OE spores for longer periods. For the average home butterfly garden, this scenario only adds more OE to the local population.
After the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, the toxins shift to different parts of the body. Since many birds attack the wings of the butterfly, having three times the cardiac glycosides in the wings leaves predators with a very foul taste and may prevent them from ever ingesting the body of the butterfly. To combat predators that remove the wings only to ingest the abdomen, monarchs keep the most potent cardiac glycosides in their abdomens.
Mimicry
Monarchs share the defense of noxious taste with the similar-appearing viceroy butterfly in what is perhaps one of the most well-known examples of mimicry. Though long purported to be an example of Batesian mimicry, the viceroy is actually more unpalatable than the monarch, making this a case of Müllerian mimicry.
Human interaction
The monarch is the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia. Legislation was introduced to make it the national insect of the United States, but this failed in 1989 and again in 1991.
Homeowners are increasingly establishing butterfly gardens; monarchs can be attracted by cultivating a butterfly garden with specific milkweed species and nectar plants. Efforts are underway to establish these monarch waystations.
An IMAX film, Flight of the Butterflies, describes the story of the Urquharts, Brugger, and Trail to document the then-unknown monarch migration to Mexican overwintering areas.
Sanctuaries and reserves have been created at overwintering locations in Mexico and California to limit habitat destruction. These sites can generate significant tourism revenue. However, with less tourism, monarch butterflies will have a higher survival rate because they show more protein content and a higher value of immune response and oxidative defense.
Organizations and individuals participate in tagging programs. Tagging information is used to study migration patterns.
The 2012 novel by Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior, deals with the fictional appearance of a large population in the Appalachians.
Captive rearing
Humans interact with monarchs when rearing them in captivity, which has become increasingly popular. However, risks occur in this controversial activity. On one hand, captive rearing has many positive aspects. Monarchs are bred in schools and used for butterfly releases at hospices, memorial events, and weddings. Memorial services for the September 11 attacks include the release of captive-bred monarchs. Monarchs are used in schools and nature centers for educational purposes. Many homeowners raise monarchs in captivity as a hobby and for educational purposes.
On the other hand, this practice becomes problematic when monarchs are "mass-reared". Stories in the Huffington Post in 2015 and Discover magazine in 2016 have summarized the controversy around this issue.
The frequent media reports of monarch declines have encouraged many homeowners to attempt to rear as many monarchs as possible in their homes and then release them to the wild in an effort to "boost the monarch population". Some individuals, such as one in Linn County, Iowa, have reared thousands of monarchs at the same time.
Some monarch scientists do not condone the practice of rearing "large" numbers of monarchs in captivity for release into the wild because of the risks of genetic issues and disease spread. One of the biggest concerns of mass rearing is the potential for spreading the monarch parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, into the wild. This parasite can rapidly build up in captive monarchs, especially if they are housed together. The spores of the parasite also can quickly contaminate all housing equipment, so that all subsequent monarchs reared in the same containers then become infected. One researcher stated that rearing more than 100 monarchs constitutes "mass rearing" and should not be done.
In addition to the disease risks, researchers believe these captive-reared monarchs are not as fit as wild ones, owing to the unnatural conditions in which they are raised. Homeowners often raise monarchs in plastic or glass containers in their kitchens, basements, porches, etc., and under artificial lighting and controlled temperatures. Such conditions would not mimic what the monarchs are used to in the wild, and may result in adults that are unsuited for the realities of their wild existence. In support of this, a recent study by a citizen scientist found that captive-reared monarchs have a lower migration success rate than wild monarchs do.
A 2019 study shed light on the fitness of captive-reared monarchs, by testing reared and wild monarchs on a tethered flight apparatus that assessed navigational ability. In that study, monarchs that were reared to adulthood in artificial conditions showed a reduction in navigational ability. This happened even with monarchs that were brought into captivity from the wild for a few days. A few captive-reared monarchs did show proper navigation. This study revealed the fragility of monarch development; if the conditions are not suitable, their ability to properly migrate could be impaired. The same study also examined the genetics of a collection of reared monarchs purchased from a butterfly breeder, and found they were dramatically different from wild monarchs, so much so that the lead author described them as "franken-monarchs".
An unpublished study in 2019 compared behavior of captive-reared versus wild monarch larvae. The study showed that reared larvae exhibited more defensive behavior than wild larvae. The reason for this is unknown, but it could relate to the fact that reared larvae are frequently handled and/or disturbed.
Threats
In February 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported a study that showed that nearly a billion monarchs had vanished from the butterfly's overwintering sites since 1990. The agency attributed the monarch's decline in part to a loss of milkweed caused by herbicides that farmers and homeowners had used.
Western monarch populations
Based on a 2014 20-year comparison, the overwintering numbers west of the Rocky Mountains have dropped more than 50% since 1997 and the overwintering numbers east of the Rockies have declined by more than 90% since 1995. According to the Xerces Society, the monarch population in California decreased 86% in 2018, going from millions of butterflies to tens of thousands of butterflies.
The society's annual 2020–2021 winter count showed a significant decline in the California population. One Pacific Grove site did not have a single monarch butterfly. A primary explanation for this was the destruction of the butterfly's milkweed habitats. This particular population is believed to comprise less than 2000 individuals, as of 2022.
Eastern and midwestern monarch populations
A 2016 publication attributed the previous decade's 90% decline in overwintering numbers of the eastern monarch population to the loss of breeding habitat and milkweed. The publication's authors stated that an 11%–57% probability existed that this population will go almost extinct over the next 20 years.
Chip Taylor, the director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas, has stated that the Midwest milkweed habitat "is virtually gone" with 120–150 million acres lost. To help fight this problem, Monarch Watch encourages the planting of "Monarch Waystations".
Habitat loss due to herbicide use and genetically modified crops
Declines in milkweed abundance and monarch populations between 1999 and 2010 are correlated with the adoption of herbicide-tolerant genetically modified (GM) corn and soybeans, which now constitute 89% and 94% of these crops, respectively, in the U.S. GM corn and soybeans are resistant to the effect of the herbicide glyphosate. Some conservationists attribute the disappearance of milkweed to agricultural practices in the Midwest, where GM seeds are bred to resist herbicides that farmers use to kill unwanted plants that grow near their rows of food crops.
In 2015, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a suit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Council argued that the agency ignored warnings about the dangers of glyphosate usage for monarchs. However, a 2018 study has suggested that the decline in milkweed predates the arrival of GM crops.
Losses during migration
Eastern and midwestern monarchs are apparently experiencing problems reaching Mexico. A number of monarch researchers have cited recent evidence obtained from long-term citizen science data that show that the number of breeding (adult) monarchs has not declined in the last two decades.
The lack of long-term declines in the numbers of breeding and migratory monarchs, yet the clear declines in overwintering numbers, suggests a growing disconnect exists between these life stages. One researcher has suggested that mortality from car strikes constitutes an increasing threat to migrating monarchs. A study of road mortality in northern Mexico, published in 2019, showed very high mortality from just two "hotspots" each year, amounting to 200,000 monarchs killed.
Loss of overwintering habitat
The area of Mexican forest to which eastern and midwestern monarchs migrate reached its lowest level in two decades in 2013. The decline was expected to increase during the 2013–2014 season. Mexican environmental authorities continue to monitor illegal logging of the oyamel trees. The oyamel is a major species of evergreen on which the overwintering butterflies spend a significant time during their winter diapause, or suspended development.
A 2014 study acknowledged that while "the protection of overwintering habitat has no doubt gone a long way towards conserving monarchs that breed throughout eastern North America", their research indicates that habitat loss on breeding grounds in the United States is the main cause of both recent and projected population declines.
Western monarch populations have rebounded slightly since 2014 with the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count tallying 335,479 monarchs in 2022. The population still has much to go for a full recovery.
Parasites
Parasites include the tachinid flies Sturmia convergens and Lespesia archippivora. Lesperia-parasitized butterfly larvae suspend, but die prior to pupation. The fly's maggot lowers itself to the ground, forms a brown puparium and then emerges as an adult.
Pteromalid wasps, specifically Pteromalus cassotis, parasitize monarch pupae. These wasps lay their eggs in the pupae while the chrysalis is still soft. Up to 400 adults emerge from the chrysalis after 14–20 days, killing the monarch.
The bacterium Micrococcus flacidifex danai also infects larvae. Just before pupation, the larvae migrate to a horizontal surface and die a few hours later, attached only by one pair of prolegs, with the thorax and abdomen hanging limp. The body turns black shortly thereafter. The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa has no invasive powers, but causes secondary infections in weakened insects. It is a common cause of death in laboratory-reared insects.
Ophryocystis elektroscirrha is another parasite of the monarch. It infects the subcutaneous tissues and propagates by spores formed during the pupal stage. The spores are found over all of the body of infected butterflies, with the greatest number on the abdomen. These spores are passed, from female to caterpillar, when spores rub off during egg laying and are then ingested by caterpillars. Severely infected individuals are weak, unable to expand their wings, or unable to eclose, and have shortened lifespans, but parasite levels vary in populations. This is not the case in laboratory rearing, where after a few generations, all individuals can be infected.
Infection with O. elektroscirrha creates an effect known as culling, whereby migrating monarchs that are infected are less likely to complete the migration. This results in overwintering populations with lower parasite loads. Owners of commercial butterfly-breeding operations claim that they take steps to control this parasite in their practices, although this claim is doubted by many scientists who study monarchs.[
Confusion of host plants
The black swallow-wort (Cynanchum louiseae) and pale swallow-wort (Cynanchum rossicum) plants are problematic for monarchs in North America. Monarchs lay their eggs on these relatives of native vining milkweed (Cynanchum laeve) because they produce stimuli similar to milkweed. Once the eggs hatch, the caterpillars are poisoned by the toxicity of this invasive plant from Europe.
Climate
Climate variations during the fall and summer affect butterfly reproduction. Rainfall and freezing temperatures affect milkweed growth. Omar Vidal, director general of WWF-Mexico, said, "The monarch's lifecycle depends on the climatic conditions in the places where they breed. Eggs, larvae, and pupae develop more quickly in milder conditions. Temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F) can be lethal for larvae, and eggs dry out in hot, arid conditions, causing a drastic decrease in hatch rate." If a monarch's body temperatures is below 30 °C (86 °F), a monarch cannot fly. To warm up, they sit in the sun or rapidly shiver their wings to warm themselves.
Climate change may dramatically affect the monarch migration. A study from 2015 examined the impact of warming temperatures on the breeding range of the monarch, and showed that in the next 50 years the monarch host plant will expand its range further north into Canada, and that the monarchs will follow this. While this will expand the breeding locations of the monarch, it will also have the effect of increasing the distance that monarchs must travel to reach their overwintering destination in Mexico, which could result in greater mortality during the migration.
Milkweeds grown at increased temperatures have been shown to contain higher cardenolide concentrations, making the leaves too toxic for the monarch caterpillars. However, these increased concentrations are likely in response to increased insect herbivory, which is also caused by the increased temperatures. Whether increased temperatures make milkweed too toxic for monarch caterpillars when other factors are not present is unknown. Additionally, milkweed grown at carbon dioxide levels of 760 parts per million was found to produce a different mix of the toxic cardenolides, one of which was less effective against monarch parasites.
Conservation status
On July 20, 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature added the migratory monarch butterfly (the subspecies common in North America) to its red list of endangered species.
The monarch butterfly is not currently listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or protected specifically under U.S. domestic laws.
On August 14, 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety filed a legal petition requesting Endangered Species Act protection for the monarch and its habitat, based largely on the long-term trends observed at overwintering sites. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) initiated a status review of the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act with a due date for information submission of March 3, 2015, later extended to 2020. On December 15, 2020, the FWS ruled that adding the butterfly to the list of threatened and endangered species was "warranted-but-precluded" because it needed to devote its resources to 161 higher-priority species.
The number of monarchs overwintering in Mexico has shown a long-term downward trend. Since 1995, coverage numbers have been as high as 18 hectares (44 acres) during the winter of 1996–1997, but on average about 6 hectares (15 acres). Coverage declined to its lowest point to date (0.67 hectares (1.66 acres)) during the winter of 2013–2014, but rebounded to 4.01 hectares (10 acres) in 2015–2016. The average population of monarchs in 2016 was estimated at 200 million. Historically, on average there are 300 million monarchs. The 2016 increase was attributed to favorable breeding conditions in the summer of 2015. However, coverage declined by 27% to 2.91 hectares (7.19 acres) during the winter of 2016–2017. Some believe this was because of a storm that had occurred during March 2016 in the monarchs' previous overwintering season, though this seems unlikely since most current research shows that the overwintering colony sizes do not predict the size of the next summer breeding population.
In Ontario, Canada, the monarch butterfly is listed as a species of special concern. In fall 2016, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada proposed that the monarch be listed as endangered in Canada, as opposed to its current listing as a "species of concern" in that country. This move, once enacted, would protect critical monarch habitat in Canada, such as major fall accumulation areas in southern Ontario, but it would also have implications for citizen scientists who work with monarchs, and for classroom activities. If the monarch were federally protected in Canada, these activities could be limited, or require federal permits.
In Nova Scotia, the monarch is listed as endangered at the provincial level, as of 2017. This decision (as well as the Ontario decision) apparently is based on a presumption that the overwintering colony declines in Mexico create declines in the breeding range in Canada. Two recent studies have been conducted examining long-term trends in monarch abundance in Canada, using either butterfly atlas records or citizen science butterfly surveys, and neither shows evidence of a population decline in Canada.
Conservation efforts
See also: Monarch butterfly conservation in California
Although numbers of breeding monarchs in eastern North America have apparently not decreased, reports of declining numbers of overwintering butterflies have inspired efforts to conserve the species.
Federal actions
On June 20, 2014, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum entitled "Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators". The memorandum established a Pollinator Health Task Force, to be co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and stated:
The number of migrating Monarch butterflies sank to the lowest recorded population level in 2013–14, and there is an imminent risk of failed migration.
In May 2015, the Pollinator Health Task Force issued a "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators". The strategy laid out federal actions to achieve three goals, two of which were:
Monarch Butterflies: Increase the Eastern population of the monarch butterfly to 225 million butterflies occupying an area of approximately 15 acres (6 hectares) in the overwintering grounds in Mexico, through domestic/international actions and public-private partnerships, by 2020.
Pollinator Habitat Acreage: Restore or enhance 7 million acres of land for pollinators over the next 5 years through Federal actions and public/private partnerships.
Many of the priority projects that the national strategy identified focused on the I-35 corridor, which extends for 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from Texas to Minnesota. The area through which that highway travels provides spring and summer breeding habitats in the United States' key monarch migration corridor.
The Task Force simultaneously issued a "Pollinator Research Action Plan". The Plan outlined five main action areas, covered in ten subject-specific chapters. The action areas were: Setting a Baseline; Assessing Environmental Stressors; Restoring Habitat; Understanding and Supporting Stakeholders; Curating and Sharing Knowledge.
In June 2016, the Task Force issued a "Pollinator Partnership Action Plan". That Plan provided examples of past, ongoing, and possible future collaborations between the federal government and non-federal institutions to support pollinator health under each of the national strategy's goals.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) publishes sets of landscape performance requirements in its P100 documents, which mandate standards for the GSA's Public Buildings Service. Beginning in March 2015, those performance requirements and their updates have included four primary aspects for planting designs that are intended to provide adequate on-site foraging opportunities for targeted pollinators. The targeted pollinators include bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L.) The FAST Act placed a new emphasis on efforts to support pollinators. To accomplish this, the FAST Act amended Title 23 (Highways) of the United States Code. The amendment directed the United States Secretary of Transportation, when carrying out programs under that title in conjunction with willing states, to:
encourage integrated vegetation management practices on roadsides and other transportation rights-of-way, including reduced mowing; and
encourage the development of habitat and forage for Monarch butterflies, other native pollinators, and honey bees through plantings of native forbs and grasses, including noninvasive, native milkweed species that can serve as migratory way stations for butterflies and facilitate migrations of other pollinators.
The FAST Act also stated that activities to establish and improve pollinator habitat, forage, and migratory way stations may be eligible for Federal funding if related to transportation projects funded under Title 23.
The United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency helps increase U.S. populations of monarch butterfly and other pollinators through its Conservation Reserve Program's State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Initiative. The SAFE Initiative provides an annual rental payment to farmers who agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and who plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Among other things, the initiative encourages landowners to establish wetlands, grasses, and trees to create habitats for species that the FWS has designated to be threatened or endangered.
Other actions
Agriculture companies and other organizations are being asked to set aside areas that remain unsprayed to allow monarchs to breed. In addition, national and local initiatives are underway to help establish and maintain pollinator habitats along corridors containing power lines and roadways. The Federal Highway Administration, state governments, and local jurisdictions are encouraging highway departments and others to limit their use of herbicides, to reduce mowing, to help milkweed to grow and to encourage monarchs to reproduce within their right-of-ways.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program report
In 2020, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCRHP) of the Transportation Research Board issued a 208-page report that described a project that had examined the potential for roadway corridors to provide habitat for monarch butterflies. A part of the project developed tools for roadside managers to optimize potential habitat for monarch butterflies in their road rights-of-way.
Such efforts are controversial because the risk of butterfly mortality near roads is high. Several studies have shown that motor vehicles kill millions of monarchs and other butterflies every year. Also, some evidence indicates that monarch larvae living near roads experience physiological stress conditions, as evidenced by elevations in their heart rate.
The NCRHP report acknowledged that, among other hazards, roads present a danger of traffic collisions for monarchs, stating that these effects appear to be more concentrated in particular funnel areas during migration. Nevertheless, the report concluded:
In summary, threats along roadway corridors exist for monarchs and other pollinators, but in the context of the amount of habitat needed for recovery of sustainable populations, roadsides are of vital importance.
Butterfly gardening
A monarch waystation near the town of Berwyn Heights in Prince George's County, Maryland (June 2017)
The practice of butterfly gardening and creating "monarch waystations" is commonly thought to increase the populations of butterflies. Efforts to restore falling monarch populations by establishing butterfly gardens and monarch waystations require particular attention to the butterfly's food preferences and population cycles, as well to the conditions needed to propagate and maintain milkweed.
For example, in the Washington, DC, area and elsewhere in the northeastern and midwestern United States, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is among the most important food plants for monarch caterpillars. A U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation planting guide for Maryland recommends that, for optimum wildlife and pollinator habitat in mesic sites (especially for monarchs), a seed mix should contain 6.0% A. syriaca by weight and 2.0% by seed.
However, monarchs prefer to lay eggs on A. syriaca when its foliage is soft and fresh. Because monarch reproduction peaks in those areas during the late summer when milkweed foliage is old and tough, A. syriaca needs to be mowed or cut back in June through August to assure that it will be regrowing rapidly when monarch reproduction reaches its peak. Similar conditions exist for showy milkweed (A. speciosa) in Michigan and for green antelopehorn milkweed (A. viridis), where it grows in the Southern Great Plains and the Western United States. Further, the seeds of A. syriaca and some other milkweeds need periods of cold treatment (cold stratification) before they will germinate.
To protect seeds from washing away during heavy rains and from seed–eating birds, one can cover the seeds with a light fabric or with an 0.5-inch (13 mm) layer of straw mulch. However, mulch acts as an insulator. Thicker layers of mulch can prevent seeds from germinating if they prevent soil temperatures from rising enough when winter ends. Further, few seedlings can push through a thick layer of mulch.
Although monarch caterpillars will feed on butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) in butterfly gardens, it is typically not a heavily used host plant for the species. The plant has rough leaves and a layer of trichomes, which may inhibit oviposition or decrease a female's ability to sense leaf chemicals. The plant's low levels of cardenolides may also deter monarchs from laying eggs on the plant. While A. tuberosa's colorful flowers provide nectar for many adult butterflies, the plant may be less suitable for use in butterfly gardens and monarch waystations than are other milkweed species.
Breeding monarchs prefer to lay eggs on swamp milkweed (A. incarnata). However, A. incarnata is an early successional plant that usually grows at the margins of wetlands and in seasonally flooded areas. The plant is slow to spread via seeds, does not spread by runners and tends to disappear as vegetative densities increase and habitats dry out. Although A. incarnata plants can survive for up to 20 years, most live only two-five years in gardens. The species is not shade-tolerant and is not a good vegetative competitor.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
So, as part of my membership with Planet Fitness I have access to their Total Body Enhancement machine. I don't know if it really does anything a all, but it doesn't hurt and I figure anything could only help.
The BEAUTY ANGEL experience begins with total body exposure to visible red light energy (non-UV) wavelengths primarily in the 580-700 nanometer range. Working in conjunction with the vibra-shape powered massage and muscle stimulating platform -- and the application of vitamin enriched, aloe infused pro-collagen skin care formulations -- red light energy enhances the overall effectiveness of the complete system.
Red light energy is a gentle form of stimulation that will effectively help to enhance your overall appearance. It is the ideal choice for anybody who is looking for a natural, noninvasive way toward looking and feeling great.
So, as part of my membership with Planet Fitness I have access to their Total Body Enhancement machine. I don't know if it really does anything a all, but it doesn't hurt and I figure anything could only help.
The BEAUTY ANGEL experience begins with total body exposure to visible red light energy (non-UV) wavelengths primarily in the 580-700 nanometer range. Working in conjunction with the vibra-shape powered massage and muscle stimulating platform -- and the application of vitamin enriched, aloe infused pro-collagen skin care formulations -- red light energy enhances the overall effectiveness of the complete system.
Red light energy is a gentle form of stimulation that will effectively help to enhance your overall appearance. It is the ideal choice for anybody who is looking for a natural, noninvasive way toward looking and feeling great.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
TINIAN, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Sept. 24, 2020) Equipment Operator Constructionman Ramsey Lora, assigned to U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3’s Detail Tinian, conducts noninvasive clearing operations on the D5 Dozer to give access to the obstructions on Marpo Heights. NMCB-3 is deployed across the Indo-Pacific region conducting high-quality construction to support U.S. and partner nations to strengthen partnerships, deter aggression, and enable expeditionary logistics and naval power projection. The battalion stands ready to complete assigned tasking, support Humanitarian Aid/Disaster Relief and Major Combat Operations throughout the area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cole C. Pielop)
Mark Healey Is the Greatest Athlete You've Never Heard Of - by Thayer Walker
He surfs sixty-foot waves, performs Hollywood stunts, and can hold his breath underwater for six—six!—minutes. Now he's freediving to tag hammerhead sharks for science.
The island of Mikomoto is a barren, windswept, wave-battered chunk of basalt infested with sharks and scoured by current, and looks as if it erupted from the fever dream of a malarial sea captain. Six miles offshore of Japan’s quiet port town of Minami-Izu, its waters are so treacherous that the 25-acre uninhabited island was chosen in 1870 as the site of one of the country’s first stone lighthouses, a 75-foot tower wrapped with black stripes. For Mark Healey, these are all the ingredients of a good time.
“This should be fun,” he says as the Otomaru, our 40-foot chartered fishing boat, pulls into a rocky cove.
Clad head to toe in a three-millimeter camouflage wetsuit with fins to match, he looks like he just swam out of a Special Forces unit. He has a black GoPro camera (one of his many sponsors) strapped to his head; it’s an accessory so common in his daily life that it may as well be a permanent appendage. A knife is cinched at the hip to his weight belt, along with a trio of two-pound lead weights, custom-made to reduce drag in the water. A black glove protects his left hand. In his naked right he holds a four-foot teakwood Riffe speargun.
Healey takes a giant stride off the Otomaru into the 80-degree water. After a few minutes of deliberate breathing, he bends at the waist and dives. His fins—three and a half feet long for freediving—break the water with a gentle splash, then slide beneath the surface. One, two, seven long, smooth kicks take him down to 30 feet, at which point the lead weights take over, pulling him deeper. One minute in—a point when even strong divers would head up—Healey scans the depths and glides down to 80 feet.
A 34-year-old professional big-wave surfer, Healey has built a career chasing down the dangerous and nearly impossible. He’s a perennial finalist in the World Surf League’s Big Wave Awards—the discipline’s equivalent of the Oscars—having won the top prize in the Biggest Tube category in 2009 for a barrel in Oregon and the Biggest Paddle-In Wave in 2014 for a 60-foot monster at Jaws, on Maui’s north shore. He once won the Surfer magazine poll for Worst Wipeout, crashing on a punishing wave at Teahupoo, in Tahiti, that would have vaporized most surfers. But Healey isn’t in Japan to ride waves—he’s here to swim with sharks.
As a member of a six-person scientific expedition, he has come to Japan for two weeks to tag an endangered population of scalloped hammerheads that congregate around Mikomoto. The sharks have plummeted in numbers by as much as 90 percent, largely due to overfishing and an insatiable appetite in Asia for fin soup. The scientists hope that the data they record, such as population sizes and migratory patterns, will improve conservation policies regionally and globally.
Between Austin Gallagher, the 30-year-old marine ecologist and founder of the conservation nonprofit Beneath the Waves who assembled the group, and the other scientists, there are enough degrees on board to rival a thermometer. Yet Healey, a man whose traditional schooling ended after the seventh grade, is the linchpin of the project. He’s a champion spearfisherman and freediver who can hold his breath for an astounding six minutes underwater, and the scientists can’t tag these notoriously hypersensitive sharks without him.
“Hammerheads are nearly impossible to catch on a line without killing them,” Gallagher says. “They need to be tagged on their turf, underwater. Because they’re so skittish, they stay away from the noise and bubbles created by scuba divers.”
Battling a heavy swell and strong currents, Healey will dive as deep as 135 feet, sneak into a school of up to 100 sharks, shoot a few with satellite or acoustic radio tags in the noninvasive area behind the dorsal fin, and then swim back to the surface—all on a single breath of air.
The hammerheads the team is after, which can grow to eight feet and 200 pounds, are small fry compared with the beasts Healey has previously pursued. In 2011, he traveled to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island to dive with great white sharks for a National Geographic television shoot. On the first day, after 30 minutes watching a trio of the one-ton animals arc through the water, Healey swam away from the safety of the boat and joined them. The biggest shark in the group interrupted its meander and made toward Healey like a guided missile. Is this a bad idea? he wondered, all the while holding his ground. As the shark swam beneath him, Healey extended his arm in a terrifying handshake and grabbed its dorsal fin.
The shark didn’t flinch any more than if Healey had been a remora. He wasn’t prey—he’d become an object for the sharks to use in competition for dominance. When he was paired off with one shark, the others stayed away. When a shark began to dive, Healey would let go. “The last place you want to be is kicking 70 feet back up through the water column. That’s when they eat you,” he told me.
During one ride, Healey was piggybacking on a shark as it approached a floating tuna head. He could feel the beast begin to open its giant mouth. Alarmed at what a feeding great white might do if it felt his full weight when it broke the surface, he slid off.
But after hours in the water in Japan, Healey hasn’t yet seen a shark. “It’s a numbers game,” he says during a post-dive recovery float. “The more time I’m underwater, the more likely we are to find hammerheads.” He takes a few more long breaths and disappears beneath the surface.
Scalloped hammerheads are famous for congregating in huge schools around seamounts. Thought to be attracted to the magnetism of volcanic islands like Cocos and the Galápagos, in the eastern Pacific, and Mikomoto, they may use underwater rock formations as resting and social centers during the day and as points of reference for nocturnal hunting. Their distinctive heads could help them detect the electromagnetic signals of the earth and other animals.
The scientists aboard the Otomaru want to understand the very basics of these hammerheads. Why do they come to Mikomoto, what are they doing here, how long do they stay, and where do they go next? By identifying their habits and highways, the scientists can maximize conservation efforts.
Gallagher has put together an international group for the expedition. David Jacoby, a postdoctorate at the Zoological Society of London, studies shark social networks and once bred 1,000 cat sharks in captivity. Yannis Papastamatiou, also from the UK, is a jujitsu black belt who specializes in using underwater acoustics to study shark movement as an assistant professor at Florida International University. Yuuki Watanabe, an associate professor at Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research, is our local lead. Tre’ Packard, executive director of a Hawaii-based art and conservation nonprofit called the PangeaSeed Foundation, suggested the expedition to Gallagher in the first place, having dived at Mikomoto before with one of only a handful of commercial operators that run trips here.
Our plan makes the long, hot August days on a small fishing boat almost civilized. At night we stay at a traditional Japanese guesthouse in Minami-Izu, eating delicious local fare as we sit on tatami-mat floors. Each morning we board the Otomaru by 8 a.m. and hit the water 30 minutes later. As an experienced freediver myself, I often follow Healey down but have no illusions of keeping pace.
Healey’s been on a previous research expedition, in 2014 in the Philippines, where he tagged nine thresher sharks. On this trip, he’ll use two kinds of tags. Satellite tags will record the sharks’ seasonal migration, then pop off after six to twelve months, sending GPS data of the animal’s path from the surface. Smaller acoustic tags will stay on for up to a year and transmit local data when the shark comes within a few hundred feet of an underwater receiver, which the scientists will moor to the seafloor. The team plans to return annually to swap out the receivers, collect a year’s worth of acoustic data, and tag more sharks.
Studying these animals is not simply an academic exercise. Healthy hammerhead populations help maintain healthy oceans and economies. A 2007 study in the journal Science correlated a more than 90 percent decline in hammerheads and other sharks along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. with an explosion in the population of their prey, cow-nosed rays. The rays then consumed enough bay scallops to collapse North Carolina’s century-old fishery. “People get so riled up about sharks for the same reasons they get riled up about politics and religion,” Healey says. “It’s all about power and control.”
Which we don’t seem to have a lot of thus far. Though we’ve been casting Healey over the side each day like a fishing lure, we still haven’t seen any hammerheads. To make matters more difficult, two Category 4 typhoons are spinning our way, threatening to cut our trip a week short, and the conditions at Mikomoto are deteriorating, bringing wind, rain, and seasickness. On the bow, one of the scientists heaves into the pitching waves, a fluorescent yellow blend of miso soup and stomach bile. Healey, astern and at ease, pulls out a tin of chewing tobacco, packs a dip, and awaits marching orders.
The four-person Japanese crew of the Otomaru—a captain, two sailors, and a divemaster—are eager to return to harbor as the boat gets nailed from all sides by the growing swell. But the team needs a win and decides on setting a receiver.
Gallagher, Jacoby, and Papastamatiou clamber into scuba gear. They plan to set the receiver a few hundred yards from shore. Once it’s secured, they’ll fire a float to the surface, where the boat can take a GPS reading to mark it. The captain, however, doesn’t want to risk bringing the boat that close to the island. “I’ll do it,” says Healey, volunteering to swim to the float with his handheld GPS. “Back into wardrobe.”
The float pops up 20 minutes later, and Healey swims a quick 400 yards out and back. Wind and rain lash the deck and our faces; the black ocean is colored with whitecaps. Gallagher, Jacoby, and Papastamatiou surface and are swept toward a jagged house-size rock shaped, appropriately, like a shark fin. Inching toward them, the Otomaru gets pounded by waves.
“This is bad,” Papastamatiou says in the water.
Gallagher looks concerned. “Are we going to be OK?” he asks.
A deckhand throws a rope to the divers as the captain slams the boat in reverse to avoid hitting the rock. The Otomaru pitches like a rocking chair. One moment the gunwale is ten feet in the air, the next it’s slamming into the water. Healey helps haul the divers in one by one, a tumble of fins, tanks, and regulators.
“That was an education,” Papastamatiou says. The scientists are shell-shocked, and the crew is angry. The captain cranks the throttle to head back to shore. Healey throws his arms toward the heavens triumphantly, a grin stretching from here to the mainland.
Standing just five foot nine and 153 pounds, with ginger freckles, narrow-set eyes, and a chiseled jaw, Healey looks like a blend of Richie Cunningham and Aquaman. Though new to field biology, he’s been turning heads in the surf world for two decades. At the age of 14, he made a splash riding 30-foot waves at Waimea Bay. He cashed his first paycheck as a professional three years later and has been a fixture in the world’s scariest lineups ever since.
“As a waterman, Mark is unrivaled,” says big-wave icon Laird Hamilton. “When it comes to riding giant waves, diving deep, and hunting fish, he’s the total package—unique even among us.”
A knack for doing the right thing in the wrong place has landed Healey stuntman gigs on Chasing Mavericks and the reboots of Hawaii 5-0 and Point Break. About a year after walking away from his longtime sponsor Quiksilver, he helped launch the surf-apparel company Depactus in February 2015 as a minority partner and the face of the brand. But despite his success on a surfboard, it’s not his first love. “People always think of Mark as a professional surfer,” says spearfishing record holder Cameron Kirkconnell, “but the truth is, he surfs to support his diving habit.”
Healey learned to swim before he could walk and estimates that he’s spent “a third of the year with a dive mask on since the age of 12.” He was born and raised and still resides in Haleiwa, on Oahu’s North Shore. His father, Andy, is an avid waterman who would wrap his tiny toddler in a life vest, give him a mask and snorkel, and pull him through the water clinging to a fishing buoy. “He took to it immediately,” Andy recalls.
Fishing was a way of life in the Healey household, a passion born from a love of the ocean and the need to eat. On calm evenings, they would paddle a half-mile out to a lonely rock in the Pacific and cast lines until sunrise. “There always had to be some element of misery to it,” Healey remembers fondly.
Money was tight. Andy was a carpenter who pounded nails for a living and a boxing bag for fun. Healey’s mother, Bitsy, cleaned houses so she could keep an eye on him while she worked. “It was hard to find a babysitter who could keep up with him,” she says. They shared a three-bedroom house with termites and holes in the floor. Bitsy would cover the latter with throw rugs, which Mark turned into traps, baiting friends into a chase and laughing as they fell into the mud below. Mark and his brother, Mikey, bounced between public and private school until Bitsy began homeschooling them in 1994.
Pale, blond, freckled, and undersize, Healey suffered a phenotype cursed in his poor, rural neighborhood. He didn’t crack 100 pounds until long after he’d gotten his driver’s license. Bloody noses and black eyes weren’t uncommon. He would never be able to fight all the bullies, despite boxing training from his father and martial-arts classes. “If you didn’t confront a situation, it would fester for years,” Healey recalls. “The only way to get any respect was to do things in the ocean that other people couldn’t.”
North Shore lifeguard Dave Wassel heard stories of this bobble-headed young gun who was riding giants. One day, while surfing at Pipeline, he noticed Healey “just owning it” in surf two stories tall, breaking in water two feet deep. In the parking lot afterward, Healey did something else Wassel had never seen. He pulled out a stack of phone books and put them on the driver’s seat. “He couldn’t see over the steering wheel!” Wassel says. “The kid was 17 years old, charging the heaviest waves in the world, and he needed a booster seat to drive home!”
By day five, we are in desperate need of some of that Healey magic. Photographer Kanoa Zimmerman and I float on the surface, watching Healey dive. Four stories down, he swings into a hover, scanning the murk for shadows. A stiff current nudges him off-axis, but he levels himself with a twitch of the left fin. His movements are balletic, part of a subtle dance in which the slightest shifts are made with the greatest intention. “Most people have the ability to be calm sometimes,” Laird Hamilton told me, “but Mark’s calm all the time. That’s very useful in high-risk situations, whether riding giant waves or diving with sharks.”
From below, a shadow appears. Two more arrive, then five, then dozens. Healey stirred up a school of Galapagos sharks loitering in a cloud of fish spawn.
Six feet long and too curious for my taste, they approach from all directions, darting within inches of me, probing for weakness like a pack of street punks in a dark alley. One of the biggest sharks has a distinctive wrinkle on its tail fin and approaches with its gills puffing and dorsal fins down, a display of aggression. All I see is toothy biomass, but Healey’s reading the fine print. “The dominant ones are usually highest in the water column,” he explains later. “They’re the ones that will test you. If you can trick them into thinking you’re the boss, the rest generally fall in line.”
The key word is trick; Healey’s well aware of what even sharks like these can do to a femoral artery. Still, he doesn’t pass up the opportunity for play. Seeing that one of the sharks has a fishhook and line in its mouth, he takes the opportunity for a little benevolent dentistry, swimming down and yanking it out.
On the boat, preparing for another round of diving, I ask Gallagher if it makes sense to start tagging the Galapagos sharks. Water temperatures are hovering around the low eighties, which makes for easier diving but a challenging hammerhead hunt. When the ocean is this warm, the sharks stay deep to stay cool. The boat has a fish finder, but it doesn’t do much good tracking the fast-moving schools. Gallagher’s assurance at the beginning of the trip that we were heading to Mikomoto during a “miracle season,” when schools of 100 hammerheads are common, was starting to feel more like a taunt than encouragement. But the recent Galapagos sighting fuels optimism. “Save the tags for the hammers,” he says.
The crew of the Otomaru don’t share Gallagher’s enthusiasm. “Storm coming,” says the captain, swinging the boat back toward the mainland.
We’ve been in Japan nearly a week and haven’t tagged a single hammerhead, and the conditions will likely continue to worsen because of the impending typhoons. “There’s a very good chance that if we don’t get a tag on a shark in the next 48 hours,” Healey says, “this whole thing is a bust.”
At the guesthouse after dinner, Jacoby and Papastamatiou sit on the floor preparing mooring lines for more receivers. The materials should last years, Jacoby explains, “but that depends on the waves.”
“Forty feet deep should be fine,” Healey says. “The biggest wave I’ve ever seen broke in 60 feet of water.”
“Where was that?” I ask.
Healey, who’s constantly tracking storms and taking last-minute flights in search of the world’s biggest swells, pauses, weighing how much of this hard-won information to share. “Africa,” he replies.
I press. “Is that your cagey way of saying, ‘I’m not going to tell you, because that’s where I might find a 100-foot wave’?” He considers a reply, then thinks better of it, shaking his head as he walks away.
Healey knows each giant ride is a life or death proposition, and he’s seen the high cost of this obsession. In December 2005, pro surfer Malik Joyeux took an awkward wipeout at Pipeline and didn’t surface. Healey ran into the water, swimming laps through the lineup until he finally helped pull Joyeux’s body off the reef. “His brother watched the whole thing,” Healey recalls. “I’d run back up the beach, and when I passed him, I could see his expression changing from confusion to shock. I was probably the last person to shake Malik’s hand.” Five years later, after Hawaiian surfer Sion Milosky drowned at Maverick’s, Healey accompanied his widow to California to retrieve his friend’s body.
“There are a lot of things working against people in this sport” Healey says. “It’s becoming apparent that those odds are coming up around me. I take my preparation very seriously, but there are so many factors to longevity besides the odds of surviving something bad. There’s the mental aspect. Once you’ve seen one of your friends die, can you keep going? Once you’ve helped their families and have seen the grief it causes, do you still want to do it? You have to be born with a certain personality type to keep coming back. But it will never be safe. And the day that it is, I won’t want to do it anymore.”
Healey trains by surfing and diving most days, doing a variety of workouts on the beach and in the pool, and hiking and bow hunting in the mountains. He recently started doing a program a few times a week called Ginástica Natural, a hybrid of yoga and jujitsu focusing on movement and breath. Still, he’s no stranger to carnage, having split his kneecap in half, broken his heel, and ruptured his right eardrum four times, which left him disoriented underwater, nearly causing him to drown. Despite the dangers, he calls life as a professional surfer “the greatest scam on earth.” But he knows the ride won’t last. Now in his thirties, he has entered the decade that most pros call retirement. “The surf industry will bro you into bankruptcy,” he says. “I would rather light myself on fire than go begging for pennies as a grown man.” Instead of doubling down on contests and sponsorships, Healey is venturing into waters most surfers don’t: building businesses.
In addition to Depactus, in 2014 he launched Healey Water Ops (HWO), an operation that gives high-paying and high-profile clients the chance to explore the ocean like, well, Mark Healey. Two-week guided experiences start at $100,000 and have Healey teaching clients how to swim with sharks, surf waves far beyond their comfort zone, spear giant tuna, or partake of any other saltwater adventure conceivable. From tech moguls to Arab royalty, his client roster is a Fortune 500 list of ocean enthusiasts. (Thanks to HWO’s nondisclosure agreement, Healey is as tight-lipped with names as he is about surf breaks.)
Volunteering for expeditions is also part of his expanded career plan. Remote seas are expensive to explore, and trips like this are a way to scout locations for other adventures and deploy his skills for a commendable purpose. “I love having the opportunity to incorporate old knowledge like spearfishing into modern conservation and scientific discovery,” he says.
The sky brightened the next morning. “Mark, it would be great if we could get some data on their behavior and get close to these animals,” says Jacoby, the expert on shark social networks. Healey taps the GoPro on his forehead in affirmation.
We plunge into the ocean, which is still and blue, with 50-foot visibility and little current. The bathymetry is spectacular, a jigsaw of basalt domes, craggy ridgelines, and wide channels. The water explodes with life—there’s so much to see that it’s hard to focus. Thick schools of seven-inch-long fusiliers, blue with sunburst yellow racing stripes down their backs, swim in tight formation appropriate to their military namesake. Two pilot fish, the size of thumbnails and dressed in the black and white stripes of a convict, choose me as their escort.
Suddenly, a cry comes from the Otomaru. “Mark!” Gallagher yells. The unmistakable falcate dorsal fin of a hammerhead cuts the surface, but it’s a football field upcurrent from Healey. He’s got no chance.
Healey climbs back aboard. Gallagher and Papastamatiou, staring down a shutout, finally tell him to start targeting Galapagos sharks, too. “It’s valid data,” Papastamatiou says with a hint of desperation. “No one’s ever done that out here.”
We motor toward the fin sighting, but the shark is long gone. We drop Healey into the water at the mouth of the cove where we moored the receiver a few days ago. Fifteen minutes later, he’s swimming back to the boat. “Got a hammer,” he says quietly. The boat erupts in cheer.
While the scientists slap backs and high-five, Healey sits alone on a far edge of the gunwale. He’s all business now, hunched over, elbows on his knees, hands cradling his chin. He doesn’t even bother to take off his mask between dives. Usually verbose, he replies curtly when asked what he’s seen down there: “Sharks and darkness.”
We head to the east side of the island. Zimmerman, Healey, and I jump in near an exposed rock and begin our drift. Zimmerman probes down to 40 feet where, beneath the layer of murk, he sees the spectral outlines of hammerheads. He follows the sharks and signals us to follow him. Healey’s only halfway through his rest cycle, but the current will blow us off the school if we don’t move now. He dives, pauses to scan the water column four stories down, and continues toward the bottom. I trail, a minute behind and 30 feet above him, straight into a school hundreds thick.
They’re beautiful animals of inspired design—slate gray with a white underbelly, sleek and powerful, and wonderfully freakish. Their long, undulating brow is broken by right angles—they have a “divergent body plan,” as Gallagher describes it in one of his papers. The term hammerhead, if evocative branding, seems a misnomer. Flat and wide, the shark’s cephalofoil is more reminiscent of a chisel. Its mouth, usually the focus of hysterical phobia, is comparatively small and set downward, just north of its stomach, in the perfect place to feast on squid.
They move in concert, swaying through the water with silent grace. They are creatures that want to swim together and be left alone. Toward the center of the school, one of the larger females rolls on her side, flashing her pale underbelly in a mating display. Healey glides into the back of the school, takes aim at a seven-footer, and fires.
It’s a direct hit, right behind the dorsal fin, but it bounces off. With a few quick flicks of the tail, the shark disappears into the crowd. Healey grabs the tag as it sinks toward the bottom, then heads to the surface. He’d fixed the tag to the tip of the gun with a rubber band, which didn’t break. The setup needs tweaking, but Healey gets a second hammerhead before the afternoon wraps.
The last two days are an exercise in target practice. Healey tags Galapagos and hammerheads with both acoustic and satellite transmitters. The scientists set three more receivers, and by the time the typhoons wash Mikomoto in surge, we’ve tagged ten sharks and set five receivers—a successful tally for a year-one expedition being cut short by nearly a week.
The scientists’ plan for their remaining time in Japan: temples in Kyoto, ramen and skyscrapers in Tokyo. Healey’s got other ideas. Just about every big-wave surfer in the western Pacific has been watching the buoys, and tomorrow is calling for 30-foot surf near Chiba, about 40 miles southeast of Tokyo. Healey has a friend flying in from Hawaii with an extra nine-six. There’s a train leaving in an hour. His hair isn’t even dry from diving, but if he hurries he’ll be in Chiba by midnight. It’s the biggest swell Japan has seen in five years.
A conceptual image of a cell karyotype exhibiting trisomy, three copies of one chromosome.
Extending noninvasive prenatal screening to all 24 human chromosomes can detect genetic disorders that may explain miscarriage and abnormalities during pregnancy, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
More information: www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/sequencing-all-24-h...
Credit: Darryl Leja, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH
Neurosurgeon Keith Black at Google's Solve for X:
“We are facing a healthcare tsunami because of cognitive decline. A child born in the U.S. today has a 1 in 3 chance of living to 100. But without a cure, Alzheimer’s alone will bankrupt the healthcare system.”
“Alzheimer’s silently starts developing 20 years before the diagnosis. We wait for symptoms, and by then 50% of the brain cells are lost. But the Beta Amyloid protein develops in the brain 20 years before we become symptomatic. How can we detect that? PET scans are low resolution, expensive and radioactive. Spinal taps to get CNS fluid are invasive and unlikely to be a standard screen. What about the retina? It’s an extension of the brain embryonically. “
“Turmeric is an Indian spice rich in the protein curcumin. Curcumin binds to the toxic beta amyloid AB42 protein, and it is brightly fluorescent.”
And it works! He showed cadaver, then animal, then human trials.
“We should give this 20 minute non-invasive test to everyone over 50. Imagine you did not treat diabetes until you had kidney failure. It would be too late. We could start treatments earlier, and study the progression in clinical trials. Perhaps the GRAS (Generally Accepted as Safe) practices could make a difference if started earlier: turmeric, green tea, coffee, physical and mental exercises. Turmeric may be good as a therapy as well as a diagnostic. There is an lower incidence of Alzheimer’s in India, and so it warrants some study. If we can just slow the progression enough, perhaps the aging population could miss the clinical phase of the disease altogether.”
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
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This chart isn't a see it + know it (at first encounter). You have to live with it for a while to recognize the patterns. While it's not quite there yet, there is some goodness here.
Some metrics you want low, some you want high... and that's fine for these charts when you use them over time.
Then you'll have recognizable patterns to overlay on your graph, like diabetes, and you'll see whether your profile measures up to a typical diabetic profile...
Now consider you're a nurse or doctor seeing today's patient list; who is at risk? Where are the "pain" points. What am I seeing over and over again? Etc...
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are more likely to have severe symptoms. At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus remain asymptomatic and do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time, but they still can spread the disease.[ Around 20% of those people will remain asymptomatic throughout infection, and the rest will develop symptoms later on, becoming pre-symptomatic rather than asymptomatic and therefore having a higher risk of transmitting the virus to others. Some people continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months after recovery, and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly when an infected person is in close contact[a] with another person. Small droplets and aerosols containing the virus can spread from an infected person's nose and mouth as they breathe, cough, sneeze, sing, or speak. Other people are infected if the virus gets into their mouth, nose or eyes. The virus may also spread via contaminated surfaces, although this is not thought to be the main route of transmission. The exact route of transmission is rarely proven conclusively, but infection mainly happens when people are near each other for long enough. People who are infected can transmit the virus to another person up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, as can people who do not experience symptoms. People remain infectious for up to ten days after the onset of symptoms in moderate cases and up to 20 days in severe cases. Several testing methods have been developed to diagnose the disease. The standard diagnostic method is by detection of the virus' nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), or by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) from a nasopharyngeal swab.
Preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimise the risk of transmissions. Several vaccines have been developed and several countries have initiated mass vaccination campaigns.
Although work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is currently symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.
SIGNS AND SYSTOMS
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Common symptoms include headache, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, cough, muscle pain, sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. People with the same infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time. Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified: one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and fever; a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue; a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19.
Most people (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging) and 5% of patients suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time. These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested and can spread the disease. Other infected people will develop symptoms later, called "pre-symptomatic", or have very mild symptoms and can also spread the virus.
As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms. The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days. Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, and almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days.
Most people recover from the acute phase of the disease. However, some people continue to experience a range of effects for months after recovery—named long COVID—and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
CAUSE
TRANSMISSION
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads from person to person mainly through the respiratory route after an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes. A new infection occurs when virus-containing particles exhaled by an infected person, either respiratory droplets or aerosols, get into the mouth, nose, or eyes of other people who are in close contact with the infected person. During human-to-human transmission, an average 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions are thought to initiate a new infection.
The closer people interact, and the longer they interact, the more likely they are to transmit COVID-19. Closer distances can involve larger droplets (which fall to the ground) and aerosols, whereas longer distances only involve aerosols. Larger droplets can also turn into aerosols (known as droplet nuclei) through evaporation. The relative importance of the larger droplets and the aerosols is not clear as of November 2020; however, the virus is not known to spread between rooms over long distances such as through air ducts. Airborne transmission is able to particularly occur indoors, in high risk locations such as restaurants, choirs, gyms, nightclubs, offices, and religious venues, often when they are crowded or less ventilated. It also occurs in healthcare settings, often when aerosol-generating medical procedures are performed on COVID-19 patients.
Although it is considered possible there is no direct evidence of the virus being transmitted by skin to skin contact. A person could get COVID-19 indirectly by touching a contaminated surface or object before touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes, though this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. The virus is not known to spread through feces, urine, breast milk, food, wastewater, drinking water, or via animal disease vectors (although some animals can contract the virus from humans). It very rarely transmits from mother to baby during pregnancy.
Social distancing and the wearing of cloth face masks, surgical masks, respirators, or other face coverings are controls for droplet transmission. Transmission may be decreased indoors with well maintained heating and ventilation systems to maintain good air circulation and increase the use of outdoor air.
The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies. Coronavirus disease 2019 is more infectious than influenza, but less so than measles. It often spreads in clusters, where infections can be traced back to an index case or geographical location. There is a major role of "super-spreading events", where many people are infected by one person.
A person who is infected can transmit the virus to others up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, and even if symptoms never appear. People remain infectious in moderate cases for 7–12 days, and up to two weeks in severe cases. In October 2020, medical scientists reported evidence of reinfection in one person.
VIROLOGY
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It was first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature.
Outside the human body, the virus is destroyed by household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.
SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have an animal (zoonotic) origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13). The structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 include membrane glycoprotein (M), envelope protein (E), nucleocapsid protein (N), and the spike protein (S). The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 is about 98% similar to the M protein of bat SARS-CoV, maintains around 98% homology with pangolin SARS-CoV, and has 90% homology with the M protein of SARS-CoV; whereas, the similarity is only around 38% with the M protein of MERS-CoV. The structure of the M protein resembles the sugar transporter SemiSWEET.
The many thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants are grouped into clades. Several different clade nomenclatures have been proposed. Nextstrain divides the variants into five clades (19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, and 20C), while GISAID divides them into seven (L, O, V, S, G, GH, and GR).
Several notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2020. Cluster 5 emerged among minks and mink farmers in Denmark. After strict quarantines and a mink euthanasia campaign, it is believed to have been eradicated. The Variant of Concern 202012/01 (VOC 202012/01) is believed to have emerged in the United Kingdom in September. The 501Y.V2 Variant, which has the same N501Y mutation, arose independently in South Africa.
SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS
Three known variants of SARS-CoV-2 are currently spreading among global populations as of January 2021 including the UK Variant (referred to as B.1.1.7) first found in London and Kent, a variant discovered in South Africa (referred to as 1.351), and a variant discovered in Brazil (referred to as P.1).
Using Whole Genome Sequencing, epidemiology and modelling suggest the new UK variant ‘VUI – 202012/01’ (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020) transmits more easily than other strains.
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
COVID-19 can affect the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) and the lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID-19 because the virus accesses host cells via the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" (peplomer) to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell. The density of ACE2 in each tissue correlates with the severity of the disease in that tissue and decreasing ACE2 activity might be protective, though another view is that increasing ACE2 using angiotensin II receptor blocker medications could be protective. As the alveolar disease progresses, respiratory failure might develop and death may follow.
Whether SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the nervous system remains unknown. The virus is not detected in the CNS of the majority of COVID-19 people with neurological issues. However, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected at low levels in the brains of those who have died from COVID-19, but these results need to be confirmed. SARS-CoV-2 could cause respiratory failure through affecting the brain stem as other coronaviruses have been found to invade the CNS. While virus has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of autopsies, the exact mechanism by which it invades the CNS remains unclear and may first involve invasion of peripheral nerves given the low levels of ACE2 in the brain. The virus may also enter the bloodstream from the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier to gain access to the CNS, possibly within an infected white blood cell.
The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.
The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system. An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China, and is more frequent in severe disease. Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart. ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function. A high incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism have been found people transferred to Intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 infections, and may be related to poor prognosis. Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels caused by blood clots) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside the presentation of viral pneumonia. Furthermore, microvascular blood vessel damage has been reported in a small number of tissue samples of the brains – without detected SARS-CoV-2 – and the olfactory bulbs from those who have died from COVID-19.
Another common cause of death is complications related to the kidneys. Early reports show that up to 30% of hospitalized patients both in China and in New York have experienced some injury to their kidneys, including some persons with no previous kidney problems.
Autopsies of people who died of COVID-19 have found diffuse alveolar damage, and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.
IMMUNOPATHOLOGY
Although SARS-CoV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, people with severe COVID-19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL-2, IL-7, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.
Additionally, people with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.
Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T-cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in people with COVID-19 . Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.
VIRAL AND HOST FACTORS
VIRUS PROTEINS
Multiple viral and host factors affect the pathogenesis of the virus. The S-protein, otherwise known as the spike protein, is the viral component that attaches to the host receptor via the ACE2 receptors. It includes two subunits: S1 and S2. S1 determines the virus host range and cellular tropism via the receptor binding domain. S2 mediates the membrane fusion of the virus to its potential cell host via the H1 and HR2, which are heptad repeat regions. Studies have shown that S1 domain induced IgG and IgA antibody levels at a much higher capacity. It is the focus spike proteins expression that are involved in many effective COVID-19 vaccines.
The M protein is the viral protein responsible for the transmembrane transport of nutrients. It is the cause of the bud release and the formation of the viral envelope. The N and E protein are accessory proteins that interfere with the host's immune response.
HOST FACTORS
Human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) is the host factor that SARS-COV2 virus targets causing COVID-19. Theoretically the usage of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and ACE inhibitors upregulating ACE2 expression might increase morbidity with COVID-19, though animal data suggest some potential protective effect of ARB. However no clinical studies have proven susceptibility or outcomes. Until further data is available, guidelines and recommendations for hypertensive patients remain.
The virus' effect on ACE2 cell surfaces leads to leukocytic infiltration, increased blood vessel permeability, alveolar wall permeability, as well as decreased secretion of lung surfactants. These effects cause the majority of the respiratory symptoms. However, the aggravation of local inflammation causes a cytokine storm eventually leading to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
HOST CYTOKINE RESPONSE
The severity of the inflammation can be attributed to the severity of what is known as the cytokine storm. Levels of interleukin 1B, interferon-gamma, interferon-inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were all associated with COVID-19 disease severity. Treatment has been proposed to combat the cytokine storm as it remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 disease.
A cytokine storm is due to an acute hyperinflammatory response that is responsible for clinical illness in an array of diseases but in COVID-19, it is related to worse prognosis and increased fatality. The storm causes the acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clotting events such as strokes, myocardial infarction, encephalitis, acute kidney injury, and vasculitis. The production of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interferon-gamma, all crucial components of normal immune responses, inadvertently become the causes of a cytokine storm. The cells of the central nervous system, the microglia, neurons, and astrocytes, are also be involved in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting the nervous system, and effects of cytokine storms toward the CNS are not uncommon.
DIAGNOSIS
COVID-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or other nucleic acid testing of infected secretions. Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection. Detection of a past infection is possible with serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to the infection.
VIRAL TESTING
The standard methods of testing for presence of SARS-CoV-2 are nucleic acid tests, which detects the presence of viral RNA fragments. As these tests detect RNA but not infectious virus, its "ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited." The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used. Results are generally available within hours. The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.
A number of laboratories and companies have developed serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to infection. Several have been evaluated by Public Health England and approved for use in the UK.
The University of Oxford's CEBM has pointed to mounting evidence that "a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with" and have called for "an international effort to standardize and periodically calibrate testing" On 7 September, the UK government issued "guidance for procedures to be implemented in laboratories to provide assurance of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA results during periods of low prevalence, when there is a reduction in the predictive value of positive test results."
IMAGING
Chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection. Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses. Characteristic imaging features on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) of people who are symptomatic include asymmetric peripheral ground-glass opacities without pleural effusions.
Many groups have created COVID-19 datasets that include imagery such as the Italian Radiological Society which has compiled an international online database of imaging findings for confirmed cases. Due to overlap with other infections such as adenovirus, imaging without confirmation by rRT-PCR is of limited specificity in identifying COVID-19. A large study in China compared chest CT results to PCR and demonstrated that though imaging is less specific for the infection, it is faster and more sensitive.
Coding
In late 2019, the WHO assigned emergency ICD-10 disease codes U07.1 for deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and U07.2 for deaths from clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19 without lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
PATHOLOGY
The main pathological findings at autopsy are:
Macroscopy: pericarditis, lung consolidation and pulmonary oedema
Lung findings:
minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation
pulmonary oedema, pneumocyte hyperplasia, large atypical pneumocytes, interstitial inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation
diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.
organisation of exudates in alveolar cavities and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis
plasmocytosis in BAL
Blood: disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); leukoerythroblastic reaction
Liver: microvesicular steatosis
PREVENTION
Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance from others, ventilating indoor spaces, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who believe they may be infected are advised by the CDC to stay home except to get medical care, call ahead before visiting a healthcare provider, wear a face mask before entering the healthcare provider's office and when in any room or vehicle with another person, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, regularly wash hands with soap and water and avoid sharing personal household items.
The first COVID-19 vaccine was granted regulatory approval on 2 December by the UK medicines regulator MHRA. It was evaluated for emergency use authorization (EUA) status by the US FDA, and in several other countries. Initially, the US National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID-19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside the setting of a clinical trial. Without a vaccine, other prophylactic measures, or effective treatments, a key part of managing COVID-19 is trying to decrease and delay the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve". This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of current cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.
VACCINE
A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was an established body of knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID-19.
In Phase III trials, several COVID‑19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID‑19 infections. As of March 2021, 12 vaccines were authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use: two RNA vaccines (the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine), four conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, Convidicea, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), and two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer). In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates were in various stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24 in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase I–II trials, and 16 in Phase III development.
Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers. As of 17 March 2021, 400.22 million doses of COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national health agencies. AstraZeneca-Oxford anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each. Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and Convidicea 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
Social distancing (also known as physical distancing) includes infection control actions intended to slow the spread of the disease by minimising close contact between individuals. Methods include quarantines; travel restrictions; and the closing of schools, workplaces, stadiums, theatres, or shopping centres. Individuals may apply social distancing methods by staying at home, limiting travel, avoiding crowded areas, using no-contact greetings, and physically distancing themselves from others. Many governments are now mandating or recommending social distancing in regions affected by the outbreak.
Outbreaks have occurred in prisons due to crowding and an inability to enforce adequate social distancing. In the United States, the prisoner population is aging and many of them are at high risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to high rates of coexisting heart and lung disease, and poor access to high-quality healthcare.
SELF-ISOLATION
Self-isolation at home has been recommended for those diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who suspect they have been infected. Health agencies have issued detailed instructions for proper self-isolation. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations. The strongest self-quarantine instructions have been issued to those in high-risk groups. Those who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and those who have recently travelled to a country or region with the widespread transmission have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of last possible exposure.
Face masks and respiratory hygiene
The WHO and the US CDC recommend individuals wear non-medical face coverings in public settings where there is an increased risk of transmission and where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. This recommendation is meant to reduce the spread of the disease by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals and is complementary to established preventive measures such as social distancing. Face coverings limit the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets dispersed when talking, breathing, and coughing. A face covering without vents or holes will also filter out particles containing the virus from inhaled and exhaled air, reducing the chances of infection. But, if the mask include an exhalation valve, a wearer that is infected (maybe without having noticed that, and asymptomatic) would transmit the virus outwards through it, despite any certification they can have. So the masks with exhalation valve are not for the infected wearers, and are not reliable to stop the pandemic in a large scale. Many countries and local jurisdictions encourage or mandate the use of face masks or cloth face coverings by members of the public to limit the spread of the virus.
Masks are also strongly recommended for those who may have been infected and those taking care of someone who may have the disease. When not wearing a mask, the CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available. Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged. Healthcare professionals interacting directly with people who have COVID-19 are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.
HAND-WASHING AND HYGIENE
Thorough hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is required. The WHO also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose. The CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, but only when soap and water are not readily available. For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis". Glycerol is added as a humectant.
SURFACE CLEANING
After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus at the eyes, nose, or mouth where it can enter the body cause infection. Current evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of Covid-19, leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes. Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticized as hygiene theater, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.
The amount of time that the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity. Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to the UV light in sunlight. Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room temperature or lower, and when the relative humidity is low (<50%).
On many surfaces, including as glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature, or even about a week under ideal conditions. On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours. As a general rule of thumb, the virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces.
However, this rule is not absolute, and of the many surfaces tested, two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, both of which are considered porous surfaces.
Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62–71 percent ethanol, 50–100 percent isopropanol, 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.2–7.5 percent povidone-iodine. Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate, are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used. The CDC recommends that if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or day care, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines used by the ill persons should be disinfected. A datasheet comprising the authorised substances to disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, use dilution, disinfectant and inocuylum volumes) can be seen in the supplementary material of.
VENTILATION AND AIR FILTRATION
The WHO recommends ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to help clear out infectious aerosols.
HEALTHY DIET AND LIFESTYLE
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends a healthy diet, being physically active, managing psychological stress, and getting enough sleep.
While there is no evidence that vitamin D is an effective treatment for COVID-19, there is limited evidence that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. This has led to recommendations for individuals with vitamin D deficiency to take vitamin D supplements as a way of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 and other health issues associated with a possible increase in deficiency due to social distancing.
TREATMENT
There is no specific, effective treatment or cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, the cornerstone of management of COVID-19 is supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support and prone positioning as needed, and medications or devices to support other affected vital organs.
Most cases of COVID-19 are mild. In these, supportive care includes medication such as paracetamol or NSAIDs to relieve symptoms (fever, body aches, cough), proper intake of fluids, rest, and nasal breathing. Good personal hygiene and a healthy diet are also recommended. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that those who suspect they are carrying the virus isolate themselves at home and wear a face mask.
People with more severe cases may need treatment in hospital. In those with low oxygen levels, use of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone is strongly recommended, as it can reduce the risk of death. Noninvasive ventilation and, ultimately, admission to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation may be required to support breathing. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to address the issue of respiratory failure, but its benefits are still under consideration.
Several experimental treatments are being actively studied in clinical trials. Others were thought to be promising early in the pandemic, such as hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, but later research found them to be ineffective or even harmful. Despite ongoing research, there is still not enough high-quality evidence to recommend so-called early treatment. Nevertheless, in the United States, two monoclonal antibody-based therapies are available for early use in cases thought to be at high risk of progression to severe disease. The antiviral remdesivir is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several other countries, with varying restrictions; however, it is not recommended for people needing mechanical ventilation, and is discouraged altogether by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to limited evidence of its efficacy.
PROGNOSIS
The severity of COVID-19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3–4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalization. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID-19 and with a transfer to ICU.
Some early studies suggest 10% to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month.[191][192] A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems including fatigue and shortness of breath. On 30 October 2020 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom warned that "to a significant number of people, the COVID virus poses a range of serious long-term effects". He has described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as "really concerning." They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs – including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. Infected people have reported cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, months of complete exhaustion, mood swings, and other symptoms. Tedros has concluded that therefore herd immunity is "morally unconscionable and unfeasible".
In terms of hospital readmissions about 9% of 106,000 individuals had to return for hospital treatment within 2 months of discharge. The average to readmit was 8 days since first hospital visit. There are several risk factors that have been identified as being a cause of multiple admissions to a hospital facility. Among these are advanced age (above 65 years of age) and presence of a chronic condition such as diabetes, COPD, heart failure or chronic kidney disease.
According to scientific reviews smokers are more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers, air pollution is similarly associated with risk factors, and pre-existing heart and lung diseases and also obesity contributes to an increased health risk of COVID-19.
It is also assumed that those that are immunocompromised are at higher risk of getting severely sick from SARS-CoV-2. One research that looked into the COVID-19 infections in hospitalized kidney transplant recipients found a mortality rate of 11%.
See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children
Children make up a small proportion of reported cases, with about 1% of cases being under 10 years and 4% aged 10–19 years. They are likely to have milder symptoms and a lower chance of severe disease than adults. A European multinational study of hospitalized children published in The Lancet on 25 June 2020 found that about 8% of children admitted to a hospital needed intensive care. Four of those 582 children (0.7%) died, but the actual mortality rate could be "substantially lower" since milder cases that did not seek medical help were not included in the study.
Genetics also plays an important role in the ability to fight off the disease. For instance, those that do not produce detectable type I interferons or produce auto-antibodies against these may get much sicker from COVID-19. Genetic screening is able to detect interferon effector genes.
Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.
COMPLICATIONS
Complications may include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and death. Cardiovascular complications may include heart failure, arrhythmias, heart inflammation, and blood clots. Approximately 20–30% of people who present with COVID-19 have elevated liver enzymes, reflecting liver injury.
Neurologic manifestations include seizure, stroke, encephalitis, and Guillain–Barré syndrome (which includes loss of motor functions). Following the infection, children may develop paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can be fatal. In very rare cases, acute encephalopathy can occur, and it can be considered in those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have an altered mental status.
LONGER-TERM EFFECTS
Some early studies suggest that that 10 to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital progress to severe or critical disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.
By a variety of mechanisms, the lungs are the organs most affected in COVID-19.[228] The majority of CT scans performed show lung abnormalities in people tested after 28 days of illness.
People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one third of those investigated after 4 weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in people who are asymptomatic, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time.
IMMUNITY
The immune response by humans to CoV-2 virus occurs as a combination of the cell-mediated immunity and antibody production, just as with most other infections. Since SARS-CoV-2 has been in the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people who recover from the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the level of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Those with asymptomatic or mild disease had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibody two months after infection. In another study, the level of neutralizing antibody fell 4-fold 1 to 4 months after the onset of symptoms. However, the lack of antibody in the blood does not mean antibody will not be rapidly produced upon reexposure to SARS-CoV-2. Memory B cells specific for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 last for at least 6 months after appearance of symptoms. Nevertheless, 15 cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported using stringent CDC criteria requiring identification of a different variant from the second infection. There are likely to be many more people who have been reinfected with the virus. Herd immunity will not eliminate the virus if reinfection is common. Some other coronaviruses circulating in people are capable of reinfection after roughly a year. Nonetheless, on 3 March 2021, scientists reported that a much more contagious Covid-19 variant, Lineage P.1, first detected in Japan, and subsequently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated with Covid-19 disease reinfection after recovery from an earlier Covid-19 infection.
MORTALITY
Several measures are commonly used to quantify mortality. These numbers vary by region and over time and are influenced by the volume of testing, healthcare system quality, treatment options, time since the initial outbreak, and population characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health. The mortality rate reflects the number of deaths within a specific demographic group divided by the population of that demographic group. Consequently, the mortality rate reflects the prevalence as well as the severity of the disease within a given population. Mortality rates are highly correlated to age, with relatively low rates for young people and relatively high rates among the elderly.
The case fatality rate (CFR) reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 2.2% (2,685,770/121,585,388) as of 18 March 2021. The number varies by region. The CFR may not reflect the true severity of the disease, because some infected individuals remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, and hence such infections may not be included in official case reports. Moreover, the CFR may vary markedly over time and across locations due to the availability of live virus tests.
INFECTION FATALITY RATE
A key metric in gauging the severity of COVID-19 is the infection fatality rate (IFR), also referred to as the infection fatality ratio or infection fatality risk. This metric is calculated by dividing the total number of deaths from the disease by the total number of infected individuals; hence, in contrast to the CFR, the IFR incorporates asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections as well as reported cases.
CURRENT ESTIMATES
A December 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis estimated that population IFR during the first wave of the pandemic was about 0.5% to 1% in many locations (including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal), 1% to 2% in other locations (Australia, England, Lithuania, and Spain), and exceeded 2% in Italy. That study also found that most of these differences in IFR reflected corresponding differences in the age composition of the population and age-specific infection rates; in particular, the metaregression estimate of IFR is very low for children and younger adults (e.g., 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25) but increases progressively to 0.4% at age 55, 1.4% at age 65, 4.6% at age 75, and 15% at age 85. These results were also highlighted in a December 2020 report issued by the WHO.
EARLIER ESTIMATES OF IFR
At an early stage of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reported estimates of IFR between 0.3% and 1%.[ On 2 July, The WHO's chief scientist reported that the average IFR estimate presented at a two-day WHO expert forum was about 0.6%. In August, the WHO found that studies incorporating data from broad serology testing in Europe showed IFR estimates converging at approximately 0.5–1%. Firm lower limits of IFRs have been established in a number of locations such as New York City and Bergamo in Italy since the IFR cannot be less than the population fatality rate. As of 10 July, in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, 23,377 individuals (18,758 confirmed and 4,619 probable) have died with COVID-19 (0.3% of the population).Antibody testing in New York City suggested an IFR of ~0.9%,[258] and ~1.4%. In Bergamo province, 0.6% of the population has died. In September 2020 the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention reported preliminary estimates of age-specific IFRs for public health planning purposes.
SEX DIFFERENCES
Early reviews of epidemiologic data showed gendered impact of the pandemic and a higher mortality rate in men in China and Italy. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the death rate was 2.8% for men and 1.7% for women. Later reviews in June 2020 indicated that there is no significant difference in susceptibility or in CFR between genders. One review acknowledges the different mortality rates in Chinese men, suggesting that it may be attributable to lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking alcohol rather than genetic factors. Sex-based immunological differences, lesser prevalence of smoking in women and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men. In Europe, 57% of the infected people were men and 72% of those died with COVID-19 were men. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.
ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
In the US, a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred among African Americans and other minority groups. Structural factors that prevent them from practicing social distancing include their concentration in crowded substandard housing and in "essential" occupations such as retail grocery workers, public transit employees, health-care workers and custodial staff. Greater prevalence of lacking health insurance and care and of underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease also increase their risk of death. Similar issues affect Native American and Latino communities. According to a US health policy non-profit, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native People (AIAN) non-elderly adults are at risk of serious illness compared to 21% of white non-elderly adults. The source attributes it to disproportionately high rates of many health conditions that may put them at higher risk as well as living conditions like lack of access to clean water. Leaders have called for efforts to research and address the disparities. In the U.K., a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred in those of a Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority background. More severe impacts upon victims including the relative incidence of the necessity of hospitalization requirements, and vulnerability to the disease has been associated via DNA analysis to be expressed in genetic variants at chromosomal region 3, features that are associated with European Neanderthal heritage. That structure imposes greater risks that those affected will develop a more severe form of the disease. The findings are from Professor Svante Pääbo and researchers he leads at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet. This admixture of modern human and Neanderthal genes is estimated to have occurred roughly between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago in Southern Europe.
COMORBIDITIES
Most of those who die of COVID-19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available, 96.1% of people had at least one comorbidity with the average person having 3.4 diseases. According to this report the most common comorbidities are hypertension (66% of deaths), type 2 diabetes (29.8% of deaths), Ischemic Heart Disease (27.6% of deaths), atrial fibrillation (23.1% of deaths) and chronic renal failure (20.2% of deaths).
Most critical respiratory comorbidities according to the CDC, are: moderate or severe asthma, pre-existing COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis. Evidence stemming from meta-analysis of several smaller research papers also suggests that smoking can be associated with worse outcomes. When someone with existing respiratory problems is infected with COVID-19, they might be at greater risk for severe symptoms. COVID-19 also poses a greater risk to people who misuse opioids and methamphetamines, insofar as their drug use may have caused lung damage.
In August 2020 the CDC issued a caution that tuberculosis infections could increase the risk of severe illness or death. The WHO recommended that people with respiratory symptoms be screened for both diseases, as testing positive for COVID-19 couldn't rule out co-infections. Some projections have estimated that reduced TB detection due to the pandemic could result in 6.3 million additional TB cases and 1.4 million TB related deaths by 2025.
NAME
During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCov and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. The official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020. Tedros Adhanom explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019). The WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications.
HISTORY
The virus is thought to be natural and of an animal origin, through spillover infection. There are several theories about where the first case (the so-called patient zero) originated. Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019. Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats, and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.
The first known human infections were in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID-19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, reported the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1 December 2019.Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019. Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020. According to official Chinese sources, these were mostly linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. In May 2020 George Gao, the director of the CDC, said animal samples collected from the seafood market had tested negative for the virus, indicating that the market was the site of an early superspreading event, but that it was not the site of the initial outbreak.[ Traces of the virus have been found in wastewater samples that were collected in Milan and Turin, Italy, on 18 December 2019.
By December 2019, the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. The number of coronavirus cases in Hubei gradually increased, reaching 60 by 20 December, and at least 266 by 31 December. On 24 December, Wuhan Central Hospital sent a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample from an unresolved clinical case to sequencing company Vision Medicals. On 27 and 28 December, Vision Medicals informed the Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese CDC of the results of the test, showing a new coronavirus. A pneumonia cluster of unknown cause was observed on 26 December and treated by the doctor Zhang Jixian in Hubei Provincial Hospital, who informed the Wuhan Jianghan CDC on 27 December. On 30 December, a test report addressed to Wuhan Central Hospital, from company CapitalBio Medlab, stated an erroneous positive result for SARS, causing a group of doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital to alert their colleagues and relevant hospital authorities of the result. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to various medical institutions on "the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" that same evening. Eight of these doctors, including Li Wenliang (punished on 3 January), were later admonished by the police for spreading false rumours and another, Ai Fen, was reprimanded by her superiors for raising the alarm.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made the first public announcement of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause on 31 December, confirming 27 cases—enough to trigger an investigation.
During the early stages of the outbreak, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days. In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration and Wuhan being a transport hub and major rail interchange. On 20 January, China reported nearly 140 new cases in one day, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. Later official data shows 6,174 people had already developed symptoms by then, and more may have been infected. A report in The Lancet on 24 January indicated human transmission, strongly recommended personal protective equipment for health workers, and said testing for the virus was essential due to its "pandemic potential". On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.
Italy had its first confirmed cases on 31 January 2020, two tourists from China. As of 13 March 2020 the WHO considered Europe the active centre of the pandemic. Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths on 19 March 2020. By 26 March the United States had overtaken China and Italy with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travellers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country. Retesting of prior samples found a person in France who had the virus on 27 December 2019, and a person in the United States who died from the disease on 6 February 2020.
After 55 days without a locally transmitted case, Beijing reported a new COVID-19 case on 11 June 2020 which was followed by two more cases on 12 June. By 15 June there were 79 cases officially confirmed, most of them were people that went to Xinfadi Wholesale Market.
RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. A September 2020 review journal article said, "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.
MISINFORMATION
After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease rapidly spread online.
In September 2020, the U.S. CDC published preliminary estimates of the risk of death by age groups in the United States, but those estimates were widely misreported and misunderstood.
OTHER ANIMALS
Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals, a type of disease transmission referred to as zooanthroponosis.
Some pets, especially cats and ferrets, can catch this virus from infected humans. Symptoms in cats include respiratory (such as a cough) and digestive symptoms. Cats can spread the virus to other cats, and may be able to spread the virus to humans, but cat-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been proven. Compared to cats, dogs are less susceptible to this infection. Behaviors which increase the risk of transmission include kissing, licking, and petting the animal.
The virus does not appear to be able to infect pigs, ducks, or chickens at all.[ Mice, rats, and rabbits, if they can be infected at all, are unlikely to be involved in spreading the virus.
Tigers and lions in zoos have become infected as a result of contact with infected humans. As expected, monkeys and great ape species such as orangutans can also be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Minks, which are in the same family as ferrets, have been infected. Minks may be asymptomatic, and can also spread the virus to humans. Multiple countries have identified infected animals in mink farms. Denmark, a major producer of mink pelts, ordered the slaughter of all minks over fears of viral mutations. A vaccine for mink and other animals is being researched.
RESEARCH
International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID-19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers. The CDC has classified it to require a BSL3 grade laboratory. There has been a great deal of COVID-19 research, involving accelerated research processes and publishing shortcuts to meet the global demand.
As of December 2020, hundreds of clinical trials have been undertaken, with research happening on every continent except Antarctica. As of November 2020, more than 200 possible treatments had been studied in humans so far.
Transmission and prevention research
Modelling research has been conducted with several objectives, including predictions of the dynamics of transmission, diagnosis and prognosis of infection, estimation of the impact of interventions, or allocation of resources. Modelling studies are mostly based on epidemiological models, estimating the number of infected people over time under given conditions. Several other types of models have been developed and used during the COVID-19 including computational fluid dynamics models to study the flow physics of COVID-19, retrofits of crowd movement models to study occupant exposure, mobility-data based models to investigate transmission, or the use of macroeconomic models to assess the economic impact of the pandemic. Further, conceptual frameworks from crisis management research have been applied to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on organizations worldwide.
TREATMENT-RELATED RESEARCH
Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the research into COVID-19 treatments. Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Solidarity trial to assess the treatment effects of some promising drugs: an experimental drug called remdesivir; anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir/ritonavir; and interferon-beta. More than 300 active clinical trials were underway as of April 2020.
Research on the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine showed that they were ineffective at best, and that they may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. By May 2020, France, Italy, and Belgium had banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.
In June, initial results from the randomised RECOVERY Trial in the United Kingdom showed that dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third for people who are critically ill on ventilators and one fifth for those receiving supplemental oxygen. Because this is a well-tested and widely available treatment, it was welcomed by the WHO, which is in the process of updating treatment guidelines to include dexamethasone and other steroids. Based on those preliminary results, dexamethasone treatment has been recommended by the NIH for patients with COVID-19 who are mechanically ventilated or who require supplemental oxygen but not in patients with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen.
In September 2020, the WHO released updated guidance on using corticosteroids for COVID-19. The WHO recommends systemic corticosteroids rather than no systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of people with severe and critical COVID-19 (strong recommendation, based on moderate certainty evidence). The WHO suggests not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of people with non-severe COVID-19 (conditional recommendation, based on low certainty evidence). The updated guidance was based on a meta-analysis of clinical trials of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
WIKIPEDIA
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are more likely to have severe symptoms. At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus remain asymptomatic and do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time, but they still can spread the disease.[ Around 20% of those people will remain asymptomatic throughout infection, and the rest will develop symptoms later on, becoming pre-symptomatic rather than asymptomatic and therefore having a higher risk of transmitting the virus to others. Some people continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months after recovery, and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly when an infected person is in close contact[a] with another person. Small droplets and aerosols containing the virus can spread from an infected person's nose and mouth as they breathe, cough, sneeze, sing, or speak. Other people are infected if the virus gets into their mouth, nose or eyes. The virus may also spread via contaminated surfaces, although this is not thought to be the main route of transmission. The exact route of transmission is rarely proven conclusively, but infection mainly happens when people are near each other for long enough. People who are infected can transmit the virus to another person up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, as can people who do not experience symptoms. People remain infectious for up to ten days after the onset of symptoms in moderate cases and up to 20 days in severe cases. Several testing methods have been developed to diagnose the disease. The standard diagnostic method is by detection of the virus' nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), or by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) from a nasopharyngeal swab.
Preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimise the risk of transmissions. Several vaccines have been developed and several countries have initiated mass vaccination campaigns.
Although work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is currently symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.
SIGNS AND SYSTOMS
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Common symptoms include headache, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, cough, muscle pain, sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. People with the same infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time. Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified: one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and fever; a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue; a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19.
Most people (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging) and 5% of patients suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time. These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested and can spread the disease. Other infected people will develop symptoms later, called "pre-symptomatic", or have very mild symptoms and can also spread the virus.
As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms. The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days. Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, and almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days.
Most people recover from the acute phase of the disease. However, some people continue to experience a range of effects for months after recovery—named long COVID—and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
CAUSE
TRANSMISSION
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads from person to person mainly through the respiratory route after an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes. A new infection occurs when virus-containing particles exhaled by an infected person, either respiratory droplets or aerosols, get into the mouth, nose, or eyes of other people who are in close contact with the infected person. During human-to-human transmission, an average 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions are thought to initiate a new infection.
The closer people interact, and the longer they interact, the more likely they are to transmit COVID-19. Closer distances can involve larger droplets (which fall to the ground) and aerosols, whereas longer distances only involve aerosols. Larger droplets can also turn into aerosols (known as droplet nuclei) through evaporation. The relative importance of the larger droplets and the aerosols is not clear as of November 2020; however, the virus is not known to spread between rooms over long distances such as through air ducts. Airborne transmission is able to particularly occur indoors, in high risk locations such as restaurants, choirs, gyms, nightclubs, offices, and religious venues, often when they are crowded or less ventilated. It also occurs in healthcare settings, often when aerosol-generating medical procedures are performed on COVID-19 patients.
Although it is considered possible there is no direct evidence of the virus being transmitted by skin to skin contact. A person could get COVID-19 indirectly by touching a contaminated surface or object before touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes, though this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. The virus is not known to spread through feces, urine, breast milk, food, wastewater, drinking water, or via animal disease vectors (although some animals can contract the virus from humans). It very rarely transmits from mother to baby during pregnancy.
Social distancing and the wearing of cloth face masks, surgical masks, respirators, or other face coverings are controls for droplet transmission. Transmission may be decreased indoors with well maintained heating and ventilation systems to maintain good air circulation and increase the use of outdoor air.
The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies. Coronavirus disease 2019 is more infectious than influenza, but less so than measles. It often spreads in clusters, where infections can be traced back to an index case or geographical location. There is a major role of "super-spreading events", where many people are infected by one person.
A person who is infected can transmit the virus to others up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, and even if symptoms never appear. People remain infectious in moderate cases for 7–12 days, and up to two weeks in severe cases. In October 2020, medical scientists reported evidence of reinfection in one person.
VIROLOGY
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It was first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature.
Outside the human body, the virus is destroyed by household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.
SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have an animal (zoonotic) origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13). The structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 include membrane glycoprotein (M), envelope protein (E), nucleocapsid protein (N), and the spike protein (S). The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 is about 98% similar to the M protein of bat SARS-CoV, maintains around 98% homology with pangolin SARS-CoV, and has 90% homology with the M protein of SARS-CoV; whereas, the similarity is only around 38% with the M protein of MERS-CoV. The structure of the M protein resembles the sugar transporter SemiSWEET.
The many thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants are grouped into clades. Several different clade nomenclatures have been proposed. Nextstrain divides the variants into five clades (19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, and 20C), while GISAID divides them into seven (L, O, V, S, G, GH, and GR).
Several notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2020. Cluster 5 emerged among minks and mink farmers in Denmark. After strict quarantines and a mink euthanasia campaign, it is believed to have been eradicated. The Variant of Concern 202012/01 (VOC 202012/01) is believed to have emerged in the United Kingdom in September. The 501Y.V2 Variant, which has the same N501Y mutation, arose independently in South Africa.
SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS
Three known variants of SARS-CoV-2 are currently spreading among global populations as of January 2021 including the UK Variant (referred to as B.1.1.7) first found in London and Kent, a variant discovered in South Africa (referred to as 1.351), and a variant discovered in Brazil (referred to as P.1).
Using Whole Genome Sequencing, epidemiology and modelling suggest the new UK variant ‘VUI – 202012/01’ (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020) transmits more easily than other strains.
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
COVID-19 can affect the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) and the lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID-19 because the virus accesses host cells via the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" (peplomer) to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell. The density of ACE2 in each tissue correlates with the severity of the disease in that tissue and decreasing ACE2 activity might be protective, though another view is that increasing ACE2 using angiotensin II receptor blocker medications could be protective. As the alveolar disease progresses, respiratory failure might develop and death may follow.
Whether SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the nervous system remains unknown. The virus is not detected in the CNS of the majority of COVID-19 people with neurological issues. However, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected at low levels in the brains of those who have died from COVID-19, but these results need to be confirmed. SARS-CoV-2 could cause respiratory failure through affecting the brain stem as other coronaviruses have been found to invade the CNS. While virus has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of autopsies, the exact mechanism by which it invades the CNS remains unclear and may first involve invasion of peripheral nerves given the low levels of ACE2 in the brain. The virus may also enter the bloodstream from the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier to gain access to the CNS, possibly within an infected white blood cell.
The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.
The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system. An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China, and is more frequent in severe disease. Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart. ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function. A high incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism have been found people transferred to Intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 infections, and may be related to poor prognosis. Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels caused by blood clots) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside the presentation of viral pneumonia. Furthermore, microvascular blood vessel damage has been reported in a small number of tissue samples of the brains – without detected SARS-CoV-2 – and the olfactory bulbs from those who have died from COVID-19.
Another common cause of death is complications related to the kidneys. Early reports show that up to 30% of hospitalized patients both in China and in New York have experienced some injury to their kidneys, including some persons with no previous kidney problems.
Autopsies of people who died of COVID-19 have found diffuse alveolar damage, and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.
IMMUNOPATHOLOGY
Although SARS-CoV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, people with severe COVID-19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL-2, IL-7, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.
Additionally, people with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.
Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T-cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in people with COVID-19 . Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.
VIRAL AND HOST FACTORS
VIRUS PROTEINS
Multiple viral and host factors affect the pathogenesis of the virus. The S-protein, otherwise known as the spike protein, is the viral component that attaches to the host receptor via the ACE2 receptors. It includes two subunits: S1 and S2. S1 determines the virus host range and cellular tropism via the receptor binding domain. S2 mediates the membrane fusion of the virus to its potential cell host via the H1 and HR2, which are heptad repeat regions. Studies have shown that S1 domain induced IgG and IgA antibody levels at a much higher capacity. It is the focus spike proteins expression that are involved in many effective COVID-19 vaccines.
The M protein is the viral protein responsible for the transmembrane transport of nutrients. It is the cause of the bud release and the formation of the viral envelope. The N and E protein are accessory proteins that interfere with the host's immune response.
HOST FACTORS
Human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) is the host factor that SARS-COV2 virus targets causing COVID-19. Theoretically the usage of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and ACE inhibitors upregulating ACE2 expression might increase morbidity with COVID-19, though animal data suggest some potential protective effect of ARB. However no clinical studies have proven susceptibility or outcomes. Until further data is available, guidelines and recommendations for hypertensive patients remain.
The virus' effect on ACE2 cell surfaces leads to leukocytic infiltration, increased blood vessel permeability, alveolar wall permeability, as well as decreased secretion of lung surfactants. These effects cause the majority of the respiratory symptoms. However, the aggravation of local inflammation causes a cytokine storm eventually leading to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
HOST CYTOKINE RESPONSE
The severity of the inflammation can be attributed to the severity of what is known as the cytokine storm. Levels of interleukin 1B, interferon-gamma, interferon-inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were all associated with COVID-19 disease severity. Treatment has been proposed to combat the cytokine storm as it remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 disease.
A cytokine storm is due to an acute hyperinflammatory response that is responsible for clinical illness in an array of diseases but in COVID-19, it is related to worse prognosis and increased fatality. The storm causes the acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clotting events such as strokes, myocardial infarction, encephalitis, acute kidney injury, and vasculitis. The production of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interferon-gamma, all crucial components of normal immune responses, inadvertently become the causes of a cytokine storm. The cells of the central nervous system, the microglia, neurons, and astrocytes, are also be involved in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting the nervous system, and effects of cytokine storms toward the CNS are not uncommon.
DIAGNOSIS
COVID-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or other nucleic acid testing of infected secretions. Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection. Detection of a past infection is possible with serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to the infection.
VIRAL TESTING
The standard methods of testing for presence of SARS-CoV-2 are nucleic acid tests, which detects the presence of viral RNA fragments. As these tests detect RNA but not infectious virus, its "ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited." The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used. Results are generally available within hours. The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.
A number of laboratories and companies have developed serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to infection. Several have been evaluated by Public Health England and approved for use in the UK.
The University of Oxford's CEBM has pointed to mounting evidence that "a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with" and have called for "an international effort to standardize and periodically calibrate testing" On 7 September, the UK government issued "guidance for procedures to be implemented in laboratories to provide assurance of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA results during periods of low prevalence, when there is a reduction in the predictive value of positive test results."
IMAGING
Chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection. Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses. Characteristic imaging features on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) of people who are symptomatic include asymmetric peripheral ground-glass opacities without pleural effusions.
Many groups have created COVID-19 datasets that include imagery such as the Italian Radiological Society which has compiled an international online database of imaging findings for confirmed cases. Due to overlap with other infections such as adenovirus, imaging without confirmation by rRT-PCR is of limited specificity in identifying COVID-19. A large study in China compared chest CT results to PCR and demonstrated that though imaging is less specific for the infection, it is faster and more sensitive.
Coding
In late 2019, the WHO assigned emergency ICD-10 disease codes U07.1 for deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and U07.2 for deaths from clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19 without lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
PATHOLOGY
The main pathological findings at autopsy are:
Macroscopy: pericarditis, lung consolidation and pulmonary oedema
Lung findings:
minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation
pulmonary oedema, pneumocyte hyperplasia, large atypical pneumocytes, interstitial inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation
diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.
organisation of exudates in alveolar cavities and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis
plasmocytosis in BAL
Blood: disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); leukoerythroblastic reaction
Liver: microvesicular steatosis
PREVENTION
Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance from others, ventilating indoor spaces, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who believe they may be infected are advised by the CDC to stay home except to get medical care, call ahead before visiting a healthcare provider, wear a face mask before entering the healthcare provider's office and when in any room or vehicle with another person, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, regularly wash hands with soap and water and avoid sharing personal household items.
The first COVID-19 vaccine was granted regulatory approval on 2 December by the UK medicines regulator MHRA. It was evaluated for emergency use authorization (EUA) status by the US FDA, and in several other countries. Initially, the US National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID-19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside the setting of a clinical trial. Without a vaccine, other prophylactic measures, or effective treatments, a key part of managing COVID-19 is trying to decrease and delay the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve". This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of current cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.
VACCINE
A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was an established body of knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID-19.
In Phase III trials, several COVID‑19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID‑19 infections. As of March 2021, 12 vaccines were authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use: two RNA vaccines (the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine), four conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, Convidicea, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), and two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer). In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates were in various stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24 in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase I–II trials, and 16 in Phase III development.
Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers. As of 17 March 2021, 400.22 million doses of COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national health agencies. AstraZeneca-Oxford anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each. Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and Convidicea 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
Social distancing (also known as physical distancing) includes infection control actions intended to slow the spread of the disease by minimising close contact between individuals. Methods include quarantines; travel restrictions; and the closing of schools, workplaces, stadiums, theatres, or shopping centres. Individuals may apply social distancing methods by staying at home, limiting travel, avoiding crowded areas, using no-contact greetings, and physically distancing themselves from others. Many governments are now mandating or recommending social distancing in regions affected by the outbreak.
Outbreaks have occurred in prisons due to crowding and an inability to enforce adequate social distancing. In the United States, the prisoner population is aging and many of them are at high risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to high rates of coexisting heart and lung disease, and poor access to high-quality healthcare.
SELF-ISOLATION
Self-isolation at home has been recommended for those diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who suspect they have been infected. Health agencies have issued detailed instructions for proper self-isolation. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations. The strongest self-quarantine instructions have been issued to those in high-risk groups. Those who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and those who have recently travelled to a country or region with the widespread transmission have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of last possible exposure.
Face masks and respiratory hygiene
The WHO and the US CDC recommend individuals wear non-medical face coverings in public settings where there is an increased risk of transmission and where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. This recommendation is meant to reduce the spread of the disease by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals and is complementary to established preventive measures such as social distancing. Face coverings limit the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets dispersed when talking, breathing, and coughing. A face covering without vents or holes will also filter out particles containing the virus from inhaled and exhaled air, reducing the chances of infection. But, if the mask include an exhalation valve, a wearer that is infected (maybe without having noticed that, and asymptomatic) would transmit the virus outwards through it, despite any certification they can have. So the masks with exhalation valve are not for the infected wearers, and are not reliable to stop the pandemic in a large scale. Many countries and local jurisdictions encourage or mandate the use of face masks or cloth face coverings by members of the public to limit the spread of the virus.
Masks are also strongly recommended for those who may have been infected and those taking care of someone who may have the disease. When not wearing a mask, the CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available. Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged. Healthcare professionals interacting directly with people who have COVID-19 are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.
HAND-WASHING AND HYGIENE
Thorough hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is required. The WHO also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose. The CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, but only when soap and water are not readily available. For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis". Glycerol is added as a humectant.
SURFACE CLEANING
After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus at the eyes, nose, or mouth where it can enter the body cause infection. Current evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of Covid-19, leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes. Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticized as hygiene theater, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.
The amount of time that the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity. Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to the UV light in sunlight. Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room temperature or lower, and when the relative humidity is low (<50%).
On many surfaces, including as glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature, or even about a week under ideal conditions. On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours. As a general rule of thumb, the virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces.
However, this rule is not absolute, and of the many surfaces tested, two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, both of which are considered porous surfaces.
Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62–71 percent ethanol, 50–100 percent isopropanol, 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.2–7.5 percent povidone-iodine. Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate, are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used. The CDC recommends that if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or day care, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines used by the ill persons should be disinfected. A datasheet comprising the authorised substances to disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, use dilution, disinfectant and inocuylum volumes) can be seen in the supplementary material of.
VENTILATION AND AIR FILTRATION
The WHO recommends ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to help clear out infectious aerosols.
HEALTHY DIET AND LIFESTYLE
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends a healthy diet, being physically active, managing psychological stress, and getting enough sleep.
While there is no evidence that vitamin D is an effective treatment for COVID-19, there is limited evidence that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. This has led to recommendations for individuals with vitamin D deficiency to take vitamin D supplements as a way of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 and other health issues associated with a possible increase in deficiency due to social distancing.
TREATMENT
There is no specific, effective treatment or cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, the cornerstone of management of COVID-19 is supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support and prone positioning as needed, and medications or devices to support other affected vital organs.
Most cases of COVID-19 are mild. In these, supportive care includes medication such as paracetamol or NSAIDs to relieve symptoms (fever, body aches, cough), proper intake of fluids, rest, and nasal breathing. Good personal hygiene and a healthy diet are also recommended. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that those who suspect they are carrying the virus isolate themselves at home and wear a face mask.
People with more severe cases may need treatment in hospital. In those with low oxygen levels, use of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone is strongly recommended, as it can reduce the risk of death. Noninvasive ventilation and, ultimately, admission to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation may be required to support breathing. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to address the issue of respiratory failure, but its benefits are still under consideration.
Several experimental treatments are being actively studied in clinical trials. Others were thought to be promising early in the pandemic, such as hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, but later research found them to be ineffective or even harmful. Despite ongoing research, there is still not enough high-quality evidence to recommend so-called early treatment. Nevertheless, in the United States, two monoclonal antibody-based therapies are available for early use in cases thought to be at high risk of progression to severe disease. The antiviral remdesivir is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several other countries, with varying restrictions; however, it is not recommended for people needing mechanical ventilation, and is discouraged altogether by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to limited evidence of its efficacy.
PROGNOSIS
The severity of COVID-19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3–4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalization. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID-19 and with a transfer to ICU.
Some early studies suggest 10% to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month.[191][192] A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems including fatigue and shortness of breath. On 30 October 2020 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom warned that "to a significant number of people, the COVID virus poses a range of serious long-term effects". He has described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as "really concerning." They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs – including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. Infected people have reported cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, months of complete exhaustion, mood swings, and other symptoms. Tedros has concluded that therefore herd immunity is "morally unconscionable and unfeasible".
In terms of hospital readmissions about 9% of 106,000 individuals had to return for hospital treatment within 2 months of discharge. The average to readmit was 8 days since first hospital visit. There are several risk factors that have been identified as being a cause of multiple admissions to a hospital facility. Among these are advanced age (above 65 years of age) and presence of a chronic condition such as diabetes, COPD, heart failure or chronic kidney disease.
According to scientific reviews smokers are more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers, air pollution is similarly associated with risk factors, and pre-existing heart and lung diseases and also obesity contributes to an increased health risk of COVID-19.
It is also assumed that those that are immunocompromised are at higher risk of getting severely sick from SARS-CoV-2. One research that looked into the COVID-19 infections in hospitalized kidney transplant recipients found a mortality rate of 11%.
See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children
Children make up a small proportion of reported cases, with about 1% of cases being under 10 years and 4% aged 10–19 years. They are likely to have milder symptoms and a lower chance of severe disease than adults. A European multinational study of hospitalized children published in The Lancet on 25 June 2020 found that about 8% of children admitted to a hospital needed intensive care. Four of those 582 children (0.7%) died, but the actual mortality rate could be "substantially lower" since milder cases that did not seek medical help were not included in the study.
Genetics also plays an important role in the ability to fight off the disease. For instance, those that do not produce detectable type I interferons or produce auto-antibodies against these may get much sicker from COVID-19. Genetic screening is able to detect interferon effector genes.
Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.
COMPLICATIONS
Complications may include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and death. Cardiovascular complications may include heart failure, arrhythmias, heart inflammation, and blood clots. Approximately 20–30% of people who present with COVID-19 have elevated liver enzymes, reflecting liver injury.
Neurologic manifestations include seizure, stroke, encephalitis, and Guillain–Barré syndrome (which includes loss of motor functions). Following the infection, children may develop paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can be fatal. In very rare cases, acute encephalopathy can occur, and it can be considered in those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have an altered mental status.
LONGER-TERM EFFECTS
Some early studies suggest that that 10 to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital progress to severe or critical disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.
By a variety of mechanisms, the lungs are the organs most affected in COVID-19.[228] The majority of CT scans performed show lung abnormalities in people tested after 28 days of illness.
People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one third of those investigated after 4 weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in people who are asymptomatic, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time.
IMMUNITY
The immune response by humans to CoV-2 virus occurs as a combination of the cell-mediated immunity and antibody production, just as with most other infections. Since SARS-CoV-2 has been in the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people who recover from the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the level of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Those with asymptomatic or mild disease had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibody two months after infection. In another study, the level of neutralizing antibody fell 4-fold 1 to 4 months after the onset of symptoms. However, the lack of antibody in the blood does not mean antibody will not be rapidly produced upon reexposure to SARS-CoV-2. Memory B cells specific for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 last for at least 6 months after appearance of symptoms. Nevertheless, 15 cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported using stringent CDC criteria requiring identification of a different variant from the second infection. There are likely to be many more people who have been reinfected with the virus. Herd immunity will not eliminate the virus if reinfection is common. Some other coronaviruses circulating in people are capable of reinfection after roughly a year. Nonetheless, on 3 March 2021, scientists reported that a much more contagious Covid-19 variant, Lineage P.1, first detected in Japan, and subsequently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated with Covid-19 disease reinfection after recovery from an earlier Covid-19 infection.
MORTALITY
Several measures are commonly used to quantify mortality. These numbers vary by region and over time and are influenced by the volume of testing, healthcare system quality, treatment options, time since the initial outbreak, and population characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health. The mortality rate reflects the number of deaths within a specific demographic group divided by the population of that demographic group. Consequently, the mortality rate reflects the prevalence as well as the severity of the disease within a given population. Mortality rates are highly correlated to age, with relatively low rates for young people and relatively high rates among the elderly.
The case fatality rate (CFR) reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 2.2% (2,685,770/121,585,388) as of 18 March 2021. The number varies by region. The CFR may not reflect the true severity of the disease, because some infected individuals remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, and hence such infections may not be included in official case reports. Moreover, the CFR may vary markedly over time and across locations due to the availability of live virus tests.
INFECTION FATALITY RATE
A key metric in gauging the severity of COVID-19 is the infection fatality rate (IFR), also referred to as the infection fatality ratio or infection fatality risk. This metric is calculated by dividing the total number of deaths from the disease by the total number of infected individuals; hence, in contrast to the CFR, the IFR incorporates asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections as well as reported cases.
CURRENT ESTIMATES
A December 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis estimated that population IFR during the first wave of the pandemic was about 0.5% to 1% in many locations (including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal), 1% to 2% in other locations (Australia, England, Lithuania, and Spain), and exceeded 2% in Italy. That study also found that most of these differences in IFR reflected corresponding differences in the age composition of the population and age-specific infection rates; in particular, the metaregression estimate of IFR is very low for children and younger adults (e.g., 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25) but increases progressively to 0.4% at age 55, 1.4% at age 65, 4.6% at age 75, and 15% at age 85. These results were also highlighted in a December 2020 report issued by the WHO.
EARLIER ESTIMATES OF IFR
At an early stage of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reported estimates of IFR between 0.3% and 1%.[ On 2 July, The WHO's chief scientist reported that the average IFR estimate presented at a two-day WHO expert forum was about 0.6%. In August, the WHO found that studies incorporating data from broad serology testing in Europe showed IFR estimates converging at approximately 0.5–1%. Firm lower limits of IFRs have been established in a number of locations such as New York City and Bergamo in Italy since the IFR cannot be less than the population fatality rate. As of 10 July, in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, 23,377 individuals (18,758 confirmed and 4,619 probable) have died with COVID-19 (0.3% of the population).Antibody testing in New York City suggested an IFR of ~0.9%,[258] and ~1.4%. In Bergamo province, 0.6% of the population has died. In September 2020 the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention reported preliminary estimates of age-specific IFRs for public health planning purposes.
SEX DIFFERENCES
Early reviews of epidemiologic data showed gendered impact of the pandemic and a higher mortality rate in men in China and Italy. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the death rate was 2.8% for men and 1.7% for women. Later reviews in June 2020 indicated that there is no significant difference in susceptibility or in CFR between genders. One review acknowledges the different mortality rates in Chinese men, suggesting that it may be attributable to lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking alcohol rather than genetic factors. Sex-based immunological differences, lesser prevalence of smoking in women and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men. In Europe, 57% of the infected people were men and 72% of those died with COVID-19 were men. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.
ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
In the US, a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred among African Americans and other minority groups. Structural factors that prevent them from practicing social distancing include their concentration in crowded substandard housing and in "essential" occupations such as retail grocery workers, public transit employees, health-care workers and custodial staff. Greater prevalence of lacking health insurance and care and of underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease also increase their risk of death. Similar issues affect Native American and Latino communities. According to a US health policy non-profit, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native People (AIAN) non-elderly adults are at risk of serious illness compared to 21% of white non-elderly adults. The source attributes it to disproportionately high rates of many health conditions that may put them at higher risk as well as living conditions like lack of access to clean water. Leaders have called for efforts to research and address the disparities. In the U.K., a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred in those of a Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority background. More severe impacts upon victims including the relative incidence of the necessity of hospitalization requirements, and vulnerability to the disease has been associated via DNA analysis to be expressed in genetic variants at chromosomal region 3, features that are associated with European Neanderthal heritage. That structure imposes greater risks that those affected will develop a more severe form of the disease. The findings are from Professor Svante Pääbo and researchers he leads at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet. This admixture of modern human and Neanderthal genes is estimated to have occurred roughly between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago in Southern Europe.
COMORBIDITIES
Most of those who die of COVID-19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available, 96.1% of people had at least one comorbidity with the average person having 3.4 diseases. According to this report the most common comorbidities are hypertension (66% of deaths), type 2 diabetes (29.8% of deaths), Ischemic Heart Disease (27.6% of deaths), atrial fibrillation (23.1% of deaths) and chronic renal failure (20.2% of deaths).
Most critical respiratory comorbidities according to the CDC, are: moderate or severe asthma, pre-existing COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis. Evidence stemming from meta-analysis of several smaller research papers also suggests that smoking can be associated with worse outcomes. When someone with existing respiratory problems is infected with COVID-19, they might be at greater risk for severe symptoms. COVID-19 also poses a greater risk to people who misuse opioids and methamphetamines, insofar as their drug use may have caused lung damage.
In August 2020 the CDC issued a caution that tuberculosis infections could increase the risk of severe illness or death. The WHO recommended that people with respiratory symptoms be screened for both diseases, as testing positive for COVID-19 couldn't rule out co-infections. Some projections have estimated that reduced TB detection due to the pandemic could result in 6.3 million additional TB cases and 1.4 million TB related deaths by 2025.
NAME
During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCov and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. The official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020. Tedros Adhanom explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019). The WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications.
HISTORY
The virus is thought to be natural and of an animal origin, through spillover infection. There are several theories about where the first case (the so-called patient zero) originated. Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019. Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats, and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.
The first known human infections were in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID-19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, reported the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1 December 2019.Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019. Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020. According to official Chinese sources, these were mostly linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. In May 2020 George Gao, the director of the CDC, said animal samples collected from the seafood market had tested negative for the virus, indicating that the market was the site of an early superspreading event, but that it was not the site of the initial outbreak.[ Traces of the virus have been found in wastewater samples that were collected in Milan and Turin, Italy, on 18 December 2019.
By December 2019, the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. The number of coronavirus cases in Hubei gradually increased, reaching 60 by 20 December, and at least 266 by 31 December. On 24 December, Wuhan Central Hospital sent a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample from an unresolved clinical case to sequencing company Vision Medicals. On 27 and 28 December, Vision Medicals informed the Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese CDC of the results of the test, showing a new coronavirus. A pneumonia cluster of unknown cause was observed on 26 December and treated by the doctor Zhang Jixian in Hubei Provincial Hospital, who informed the Wuhan Jianghan CDC on 27 December. On 30 December, a test report addressed to Wuhan Central Hospital, from company CapitalBio Medlab, stated an erroneous positive result for SARS, causing a group of doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital to alert their colleagues and relevant hospital authorities of the result. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to various medical institutions on "the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" that same evening. Eight of these doctors, including Li Wenliang (punished on 3 January), were later admonished by the police for spreading false rumours and another, Ai Fen, was reprimanded by her superiors for raising the alarm.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made the first public announcement of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause on 31 December, confirming 27 cases—enough to trigger an investigation.
During the early stages of the outbreak, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days. In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration and Wuhan being a transport hub and major rail interchange. On 20 January, China reported nearly 140 new cases in one day, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. Later official data shows 6,174 people had already developed symptoms by then, and more may have been infected. A report in The Lancet on 24 January indicated human transmission, strongly recommended personal protective equipment for health workers, and said testing for the virus was essential due to its "pandemic potential". On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.
Italy had its first confirmed cases on 31 January 2020, two tourists from China. As of 13 March 2020 the WHO considered Europe the active centre of the pandemic. Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths on 19 March 2020. By 26 March the United States had overtaken China and Italy with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travellers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country. Retesting of prior samples found a person in France who had the virus on 27 December 2019, and a person in the United States who died from the disease on 6 February 2020.
After 55 days without a locally transmitted case, Beijing reported a new COVID-19 case on 11 June 2020 which was followed by two more cases on 12 June. By 15 June there were 79 cases officially confirmed, most of them were people that went to Xinfadi Wholesale Market.
RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. A September 2020 review journal article said, "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.
MISINFORMATION
After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease rapidly spread online.
In September 2020, the U.S. CDC published preliminary estimates of the risk of death by age groups in the United States, but those estimates were widely misreported and misunderstood.
OTHER ANIMALS
Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals, a type of disease transmission referred to as zooanthroponosis.
Some pets, especially cats and ferrets, can catch this virus from infected humans. Symptoms in cats include respiratory (such as a cough) and digestive symptoms. Cats can spread the virus to other cats, and may be able to spread the virus to humans, but cat-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been proven. Compared to cats, dogs are less susceptible to this infection. Behaviors which increase the risk of transmission include kissing, licking, and petting the animal.
The virus does not appear to be able to infect pigs, ducks, or chickens at all.[ Mice, rats, and rabbits, if they can be infected at all, are unlikely to be involved in spreading the virus.
Tigers and lions in zoos have become infected as a result of contact with infected humans. As expected, monkeys and great ape species such as orangutans can also be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Minks, which are in the same family as ferrets, have been infected. Minks may be asymptomatic, and can also spread the virus to humans. Multiple countries have identified infected animals in mink farms. Denmark, a major producer of mink pelts, ordered the slaughter of all minks over fears of viral mutations. A vaccine for mink and other animals is being researched.
RESEARCH
International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID-19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers. The CDC has classified it to require a BSL3 grade laboratory. There has been a great deal of COVID-19 research, involving accelerated research processes and publishing shortcuts to meet the global demand.
As of December 2020, hundreds of clinical trials have been undertaken, with research happening on every continent except Antarctica. As of November 2020, more than 200 possible treatments had been studied in humans so far.
Transmission and prevention research
Modelling research has been conducted with several objectives, including predictions of the dynamics of transmission, diagnosis and prognosis of infection, estimation of the impact of interventions, or allocation of resources. Modelling studies are mostly based on epidemiological models, estimating the number of infected people over time under given conditions. Several other types of models have been developed and used during the COVID-19 including computational fluid dynamics models to study the flow physics of COVID-19, retrofits of crowd movement models to study occupant exposure, mobility-data based models to investigate transmission, or the use of macroeconomic models to assess the economic impact of the pandemic. Further, conceptual frameworks from crisis management research have been applied to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on organizations worldwide.
TREATMENT-RELATED RESEARCH
Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the research into COVID-19 treatments. Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Solidarity trial to assess the treatment effects of some promising drugs: an experimental drug called remdesivir; anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir/ritonavir; and interferon-beta. More than 300 active clinical trials were underway as of April 2020.
Research on the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine showed that they were ineffective at best, and that they may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. By May 2020, France, Italy, and Belgium had banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.
In June, initial results from the randomised RECOVERY Trial in the United Kingdom showed that dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third for people who are critically ill on ventilators and one fifth for those receiving supplemental oxygen. Because this is a well-tested and widely available treatment, it was welcomed by the WHO, which is in the process of updating treatment guidelines to include dexamethasone and other steroids. Based on those preliminary results, dexamethasone treatment has been recommended by the NIH for patients with COVID-19 who are mechanically ventilated or who require supplemental oxygen but not in patients with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen.
In September 2020, the WHO released updated guidance on using corticosteroids for COVID-19. The WHO recommends systemic corticosteroids rather than no systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of people with severe and critical COVID-19 (strong recommendation, based on moderate certainty evidence). The WHO suggests not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of people with non-severe COVID-19 (conditional recommendation, based on low certainty evidence). The updated guidance was based on a meta-analysis of clinical trials of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
WIKIPEDIA
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
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"New method may extend use of noninvasive prenatal testing to detect chromosomal abnormalities"
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous warning coloration with red or black bands, and ostentatious dorsal fins tipped with venomous spines. Pterois radiata, Pterois volitans, and Pterois miles are the most commonly studied species in the genus. Pterois species are popular aquarium fish. P. volitans and P. miles are recent and significant invasive species in the west Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
Taxonomy
Pterois was described as a genus in 1817 by German naturalist, botanist, biologist, and ornithologist Lorenz Oken. In 1856 the French naturalist Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest designated Scorpaena volitans, which had been named by Bloch in 1787 and which was the same as Linnaeus's 1758 Gasterosteus volitans, as the type species of the genus. This genus is classified within the tribe Pteroini of the subfamily Scorpaeninae within the family Scorpaenidae. The genus name Pterois is based on Georges Cuvier's 1816 French name, “Les Pterois”, meaning "fins" which is an allusion to the high dorsal and long pectoral fins.
Description
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches.”
Juvenile lionfish have a unique tentacle located above their eye sockets that varies in phenotype between species. The evolution of this tentacle is suggested to serve to continually attract new prey; studies also suggest it plays a role in sexual selection.
Ecology and behavior
Pterois species can live from 5 to 15 years and have complex courtship and mating behaviors. Females frequently release two mucus-filled egg clusters, which can contain as many as 15,000 eggs.
All species are aposematic; they have conspicuous coloration with boldly contrasting stripes and wide fans of projecting spines, advertising their ability to defend themselves.
Prey
Pterois prey mostly on small fish, invertebrates, and mollusks, with up to six different species of prey found in the gastrointestinal tracts of some specimens. Lionfish feed most actively in the morning. Lionfish are skilled hunters, using specialized swim bladder muscles to provide precise control of their location in the water column, allowing them to alter their center of gravity to better attack prey. They blow jets of water while approaching prey, which serves to confuse them and alter the orientation of the prey so that the smaller fish is facing the lionfish. This results in a higher degree of predatory efficiency as head-first capture is easier for the lionfish. The lionfish then spreads its large pectoral fins and swallows its prey in a single motion.
Predators and parasites
Aside from instances of larger lionfish individuals engaging in cannibalism on smaller individuals, adult lionfish have few identified natural predators, likely due to the effectiveness of their venomous spines: when threatened, a lionfish will orient its body to keep its dorsal fin pointed at the predator, even if this means swimming upsidedown. This does not always save it, however: Moray eels, bluespotted cornetfish, barracuda and large groupers have been observed preying on lionfish. Sharks are also believed to be capable of preying on lionfish with no ill effects from their spines. Park officials of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras have attempted to train sharks to feed on lionfish to control the invasive populations in the Caribbean. The Bobbit worm, an ambush predator, has been filmed preying upon lionfish in Indonesia.[31] Predators of larvae and juvenile lionfish remain unknown, but may prove to be the primary limiting factor of lionfish populations in their native range.
Parasites of lionfish have rarely been observed, and are assumed to be infrequent. They include isopods and leeches.
Interaction with humans
Lionfish are known for their venomous fin rays, which makes them hazardous to other marine animals, as well as humans. Pterois venom produced negative inotropic and chronotropic effects when tested in both frog and clam hearts and has a depressive effect on rabbit blood pressure. These results are thought to be due to nitric oxide release. In humans, Pterois venom can cause systemic effects such as pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, numbness, paresthesia, diarrhea, sweating, temporary paralysis of the limbs, respiratory insufficiency, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. Fatalities are more common in very young children, the elderly, or those who are allergic to the venom. The venom is rarely fatal to healthy adults, but some species have enough venom to produce extreme discomfort for a period of several days. Moreover, Pterois venom poses a danger to allergic victims as they may experience anaphylaxis, a serious and often life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Severe allergic reactions to Pterois venom include chest pain, severe breathing difficulties, a drop in blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, sweating, or slurred speech. Such reactions can be fatal if not treated.
Native range and habitat
The lionfish is native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. They can be found around the seaward edge of shallow coral reefs, lagoons, rocky substrates, and on mesophotic reefs, and can live in areas of varying salinity, temperature, and depth. They are also frequently found in turbid inshore areas and harbors, and have a generally hostile attitude and are territorial toward other reef fish. They are commonly found from shallow waters down to past 100 m (330 ft) depth, and have in several locations been recorded to 300 m depth. Many universities in the Indo-Pacific have documented reports of Pterois aggression toward divers and researchers. P. volitans and P. miles are native to subtropical and tropical regions from southern Japan and southern Korea to the east coast of Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific Ocean. P. miles is also found in the Indian Ocean, from Sumatra to Sri Lanka and the Red Sea.
Invasive introduction and range
Two of the 12 species of Pterois, the red lionfish (P. volitans) and the common lionfish (P. miles), have established themselves as significant invasive species off the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. About 93% of the invasive population in the Western Atlantic is P. volitans.
The red lionfish is found off the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, and was likely first introduced off the Florida coast by the early to mid-1980s. This introduction may have occurred in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. A lionfish was discovered off the coast of Dania Beach, south Florida, as early as 1985, before Hurricane Andrew. The lionfish resemble those of the Philippines, implicating the aquarium trade, suggesting individuals may have been purposely discarded by dissatisfied aquarium enthusiasts. This is in part because lionfish require an experienced aquarist, but are often sold to novices who find their care too difficult. In 2001, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented several sightings of lionfish off the coast of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Bermuda, and Delaware. In August 2014, when the Gulf Stream was discharging into the mouth of the Delaware Bay, two lionfish were caught by a surf fisherman off the ocean side shore of Cape Henlopen State Park: a red lionfish that weighed 1 pound 4+1⁄2 ounces (580 g) and a common lionfish that weighed 1 pound 2 ounces (510 g). Three days later, a 1-pound-3-ounce (540 g) red lionfish was caught off the shore of Broadkill Beach which is in the Delaware Bay approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Cape Henlopen State Park. Lionfish were first detected in the Bahamas in 2004. In June 2013 lionfish were discovered as far east as Barbados, and as far south as the Los Roques Archipelago and many Venezuelan continental beaches. Lionfish were first sighted in Brazilian waters in late 2014. Genetic testing on a single captured individual revealed that it was related to the populations found in the Caribbean, suggesting larval dispersal rather than an intentional release.
P. volitans is the most abundant species of the invasive lionfish population in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
Adult lionfish specimens are now found along the United States East Coast from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. They are also found off Bermuda, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Belize, Honduras, Colombia and Mexico. Population densities continue to increase in the invaded areas, resulting in a population boom of up to 700% in some areas between 2004 and 2008.
Pterois species are known for devouring many other aquarium fishes, unusual in that they are among the few fish species to successfully establish populations in open marine systems.
Pelagic larval dispersion is assumed to occur through oceanic currents, including the Gulf Stream and the Caribbean Current. Ballast water can also contribute to the dispersal.
Extreme temperatures present geographical constraints in the distribution of aquatic species, indicating temperature tolerance plays a role in the lionfish's survival, reproduction, and range of distribution. The abrupt differences in water temperatures north and south of Cape Hatteras directly correlate with the abundance and distribution of Pterois. Pterois expanded along the southeastern coast of the United States and occupied thermal-appropriate zones within 10 years, and the shoreward expansion of this thermally appropriate habitat is expected in coming decades as winter water temperatures warm in response to anthropogenic climate change. Although the timeline of observations points to the east coast of Florida as the initial source of the western Atlantic invasion, the relationship of the United States East Coast and Bahamian lionfish invasion is uncertain. Lionfish can tolerate a minimum salinity of 5 ppt (0.5%) and even withstand pulses of fresh water, which means they can also be found in estuaries of freshwater rivers.
The lionfish invasion is considered to be one of the most serious recent threats to Caribbean and Florida coral reef ecosystems. To help address the pervasive problem, in 2015, the NOAA partnered with the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute to set up a lionfish portal to provide scientifically accurate information on the invasion and its impacts. The lionfish web portal is aimed at all those involved and affected, including coastal managers, educators, and the public, and the portal was designed as a source of training videos, fact sheets, examples of management plans, and guidelines for monitoring. The web portal draws on the expertise of NOAA's own scientists, as well as that of other scientists and policy makers from academia or NGOs, and managers.
Mediterranean
Lionfish have also established themselves in parts of the Mediterranean - with records down to 110 m depth. Lionfish have been found in Maltese waters and waters of other Mediterranean countires, as well as Croatia. Warming sea temperatures may be allowing lionfish to further expand their range in the Mediterranean.
Long-term effects of invasion
Lionfish have successfully pioneered the coastal waters of the Atlantic in less than a decade, and pose a major threat to reef ecological systems in these areas. A study comparing their abundance from Florida to North Carolina with several species of groupers found they were second only to the native scamp grouper and equally abundant to the graysby, gag, and rock hind. This could be due to a surplus of resource availability resulting from the overfishing of lionfish predators like grouper. Although the lionfish has not expanded to a population size currently causing major ecological problems, their invasion in the United States coastal waters could lead to serious problems in the future. One likely ecological impact caused by Pterois could be their impact on prey population numbers by directly affecting food web relationships. This could ultimately lead to reef deterioration and could negatively influence Atlantic trophic cascade. Lionfish have already been shown to overpopulate reef areas and display aggressive tendencies, forcing native species to move to waters where conditions might be less than favorable.
Lionfish could be reducing Atlantic reef diversity by up to 80%. In July 2011, lionfish were reported for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Louisiana. Sanctuary officials said they believe the species will be a permanent fixture, but hope to monitor and possibly limit their presence.
Since lionfish thrive so well in the Atlantic and the Caribbean due to nutrient-rich waters and lack of predators, the species has spread tremendously. A single lionfish, located on a reef, reduced young juvenile reef fish populations by 79%.
Control and eradication efforts
Red lionfish are an invasive species, yet relatively little is known about them. NOAA research foci include investigating biotechnical solutions for control of the population, and understanding how the larvae are dispersed. Another important area of study is what controls the population in its native area. Researchers hope to discover what moderates lionfish populations in the Indo-Pacific and apply this information to control the invasive populations, without introducing additional invasive species.
Two new trap designs have been introduced to help with deep-water control of the lionfish. The traps are low and vertical and remain open the entire time of deployment. The vertical relief of the trap attracts lionfish, which makes catching them easier. These new traps are good for catching lionfish without affecting the native species that are ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important to the surrounding areas. These traps are more beneficial than older traps because they limit the potential of catching noninvasive creatures, they have bait that is only appealing to lionfish, they guarantee a catch, and they are easy to transport.
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are being developed to help hunt the lionfish. The Reefsweeper ROV uses a harpoon gun to snag it's target. The vehicle is able to hunt fish that may not otherwise be obtainable through human intervention alone.
Rigorous and repeated removal of lionfish from invaded waters could potentially control the exponential expansion of the lionfish in invaded waters. A 2010 study showed effective maintenance would require the monthly harvest of at least 27% of the adult population. Because lionfish are able to reproduce monthly, this effort must be maintained throughout the entire year.
Even to accomplish these numbers seems unlikely, but as populations of lionfish continue to grow throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, actions are being taken to attempt to control the quickly growing numbers. In November 2010, for the first time the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary began licensing divers to kill lionfish inside the sanctuary in an attempt to eradicate the fish
Conservation groups and community organizations in the Eastern United States have organized hunting expeditions for Pterois such as the Environment Education Foundation's 'lionfish derby' held annually in Florida. Divemasters from Cozumel to the Honduran Bay Islands and at Reef Conservation International which operates in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve off Punta Gorda, Belize, now routinely spear them during dives.[citation needed] While diver culling removes lionfish from shallow reefs reducing their densities, lionfish have widely been reported on mesophotic coral ecosystems (reefs from 30 to 150 m) in the western Atlantic and even in deep-sea habitats (greater than 200 m depth). Recent studies have suggested that the effects of culling are likely to be depth-specific, and so have limited impacts on these deeper reef populations. Therefore, other approaches such as trapping are advocated for removing lionfish from deeper reef habitats.
Long-term culling has also been recorded to cause behavior changes in lionfish populations. For example, in the Bahamas, lionfish on heavily culled reefs have become more wary of divers and hide more within the reef structure during the day when culling occurs. Similar lionfish responses to divers have been observed when comparing culled sites and sites without culling in Honduras, including altered lionfish behaviour on reefs too deep for regular culling, but adjacent to heavily culled sites potentially implying movement of individuals between depths.
While culling by marine protection agencies and volunteer divers is an important element of control efforts, development of market-based approaches, which create commercial incentives for removals, has been seen as a means to sustain control efforts. The foremost of these market approaches is the promotion of lionfish as a food item. Another is the use of lionfish spines, fins, and tails for jewelry and other decorative items. Lionfish jewelry production initiatives are underway in Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
In 2014 at Jardines de la Reina National Marine Park in Cuba, a diver experimented with spearing and feeding lionfish to sharks in an effort to teach them to seek out the fish as prey. By 2016, Cuba was finding it more effective to fish for lionfish as food.
"Lionfish as Food" campaign
In 2010, NOAA (which also encourages people to report lionfish sightings, to help track lionfish population dispersal) began a campaign to encourage the consumption of the fish. The "Lionfish as Food" campaign encourages human hunting of the fish as the only form of control known to date. Increasing the catch of lionfish could not only help maintain a reasonable population density, but also provide an alternative fishing source to overfished populations, such as grouper and snapper. The taste is described as "buttery and tender". To promote the campaign, the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia agreed to have their clergy's sermons suggest to their parishioners (84% of the population) eating lionfish on Fridays, Lent, and Easter, which proved highly successful in decreasing the invasive fish problem.
When properly filleted, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat. Some concern exists about the risk of ciguatera food poisoning (CFP) from the consumption of lionfish, and the FDA included lionfish on the list of species at risk for CFP when lionfish are harvested in some areas tested positive for ciguatera. No cases of CFP from the consumption of lionfish have been verified, and published research has found that the toxins in lionfish venom may be causing false positives in tests for the presence of ciguatera. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation provides advice to restaurant chefs on how they can incorporate the fish into their menus. The NOAA calls the lionfish a "delicious, delicately flavored fish" similar in texture to grouper. Cooking techniques and preparations for lionfish include deep-frying, ceviche, jerky, grilling, and sashimi.
Another initiative is centered around the production of leather from lionfish hides. It seeks to establish a production chain and market for high-quality leather produced from the hides. The goal is to control invasive lionfish populations while providing economic benefits to local fishing communities.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are more likely to have severe symptoms. At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus remain asymptomatic and do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time, but they still can spread the disease.[ Around 20% of those people will remain asymptomatic throughout infection, and the rest will develop symptoms later on, becoming pre-symptomatic rather than asymptomatic and therefore having a higher risk of transmitting the virus to others. Some people continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months after recovery, and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly when an infected person is in close contact[a] with another person. Small droplets and aerosols containing the virus can spread from an infected person's nose and mouth as they breathe, cough, sneeze, sing, or speak. Other people are infected if the virus gets into their mouth, nose or eyes. The virus may also spread via contaminated surfaces, although this is not thought to be the main route of transmission. The exact route of transmission is rarely proven conclusively, but infection mainly happens when people are near each other for long enough. People who are infected can transmit the virus to another person up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, as can people who do not experience symptoms. People remain infectious for up to ten days after the onset of symptoms in moderate cases and up to 20 days in severe cases. Several testing methods have been developed to diagnose the disease. The standard diagnostic method is by detection of the virus' nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), or by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) from a nasopharyngeal swab.
Preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimise the risk of transmissions. Several vaccines have been developed and several countries have initiated mass vaccination campaigns.
Although work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is currently symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.
SIGNS AND SYSTOMS
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Common symptoms include headache, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, cough, muscle pain, sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. People with the same infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time. Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified: one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and fever; a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue; a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19.
Most people (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging) and 5% of patients suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time. These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested and can spread the disease. Other infected people will develop symptoms later, called "pre-symptomatic", or have very mild symptoms and can also spread the virus.
As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms. The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days. Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, and almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days.
Most people recover from the acute phase of the disease. However, some people continue to experience a range of effects for months after recovery—named long COVID—and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
CAUSE
TRANSMISSION
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads from person to person mainly through the respiratory route after an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes. A new infection occurs when virus-containing particles exhaled by an infected person, either respiratory droplets or aerosols, get into the mouth, nose, or eyes of other people who are in close contact with the infected person. During human-to-human transmission, an average 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions are thought to initiate a new infection.
The closer people interact, and the longer they interact, the more likely they are to transmit COVID-19. Closer distances can involve larger droplets (which fall to the ground) and aerosols, whereas longer distances only involve aerosols. Larger droplets can also turn into aerosols (known as droplet nuclei) through evaporation. The relative importance of the larger droplets and the aerosols is not clear as of November 2020; however, the virus is not known to spread between rooms over long distances such as through air ducts. Airborne transmission is able to particularly occur indoors, in high risk locations such as restaurants, choirs, gyms, nightclubs, offices, and religious venues, often when they are crowded or less ventilated. It also occurs in healthcare settings, often when aerosol-generating medical procedures are performed on COVID-19 patients.
Although it is considered possible there is no direct evidence of the virus being transmitted by skin to skin contact. A person could get COVID-19 indirectly by touching a contaminated surface or object before touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes, though this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. The virus is not known to spread through feces, urine, breast milk, food, wastewater, drinking water, or via animal disease vectors (although some animals can contract the virus from humans). It very rarely transmits from mother to baby during pregnancy.
Social distancing and the wearing of cloth face masks, surgical masks, respirators, or other face coverings are controls for droplet transmission. Transmission may be decreased indoors with well maintained heating and ventilation systems to maintain good air circulation and increase the use of outdoor air.
The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies. Coronavirus disease 2019 is more infectious than influenza, but less so than measles. It often spreads in clusters, where infections can be traced back to an index case or geographical location. There is a major role of "super-spreading events", where many people are infected by one person.
A person who is infected can transmit the virus to others up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, and even if symptoms never appear. People remain infectious in moderate cases for 7–12 days, and up to two weeks in severe cases. In October 2020, medical scientists reported evidence of reinfection in one person.
VIROLOGY
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It was first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature.
Outside the human body, the virus is destroyed by household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.
SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have an animal (zoonotic) origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13). The structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 include membrane glycoprotein (M), envelope protein (E), nucleocapsid protein (N), and the spike protein (S). The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 is about 98% similar to the M protein of bat SARS-CoV, maintains around 98% homology with pangolin SARS-CoV, and has 90% homology with the M protein of SARS-CoV; whereas, the similarity is only around 38% with the M protein of MERS-CoV. The structure of the M protein resembles the sugar transporter SemiSWEET.
The many thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants are grouped into clades. Several different clade nomenclatures have been proposed. Nextstrain divides the variants into five clades (19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, and 20C), while GISAID divides them into seven (L, O, V, S, G, GH, and GR).
Several notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2020. Cluster 5 emerged among minks and mink farmers in Denmark. After strict quarantines and a mink euthanasia campaign, it is believed to have been eradicated. The Variant of Concern 202012/01 (VOC 202012/01) is believed to have emerged in the United Kingdom in September. The 501Y.V2 Variant, which has the same N501Y mutation, arose independently in South Africa.
SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS
Three known variants of SARS-CoV-2 are currently spreading among global populations as of January 2021 including the UK Variant (referred to as B.1.1.7) first found in London and Kent, a variant discovered in South Africa (referred to as 1.351), and a variant discovered in Brazil (referred to as P.1).
Using Whole Genome Sequencing, epidemiology and modelling suggest the new UK variant ‘VUI – 202012/01’ (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020) transmits more easily than other strains.
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
COVID-19 can affect the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) and the lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID-19 because the virus accesses host cells via the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" (peplomer) to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell. The density of ACE2 in each tissue correlates with the severity of the disease in that tissue and decreasing ACE2 activity might be protective, though another view is that increasing ACE2 using angiotensin II receptor blocker medications could be protective. As the alveolar disease progresses, respiratory failure might develop and death may follow.
Whether SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the nervous system remains unknown. The virus is not detected in the CNS of the majority of COVID-19 people with neurological issues. However, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected at low levels in the brains of those who have died from COVID-19, but these results need to be confirmed. SARS-CoV-2 could cause respiratory failure through affecting the brain stem as other coronaviruses have been found to invade the CNS. While virus has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of autopsies, the exact mechanism by which it invades the CNS remains unclear and may first involve invasion of peripheral nerves given the low levels of ACE2 in the brain. The virus may also enter the bloodstream from the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier to gain access to the CNS, possibly within an infected white blood cell.
The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.
The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system. An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China, and is more frequent in severe disease. Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart. ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function. A high incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism have been found people transferred to Intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 infections, and may be related to poor prognosis. Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels caused by blood clots) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside the presentation of viral pneumonia. Furthermore, microvascular blood vessel damage has been reported in a small number of tissue samples of the brains – without detected SARS-CoV-2 – and the olfactory bulbs from those who have died from COVID-19.
Another common cause of death is complications related to the kidneys. Early reports show that up to 30% of hospitalized patients both in China and in New York have experienced some injury to their kidneys, including some persons with no previous kidney problems.
Autopsies of people who died of COVID-19 have found diffuse alveolar damage, and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.
IMMUNOPATHOLOGY
Although SARS-CoV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, people with severe COVID-19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL-2, IL-7, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.
Additionally, people with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.
Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T-cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in people with COVID-19 . Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.
VIRAL AND HOST FACTORS
VIRUS PROTEINS
Multiple viral and host factors affect the pathogenesis of the virus. The S-protein, otherwise known as the spike protein, is the viral component that attaches to the host receptor via the ACE2 receptors. It includes two subunits: S1 and S2. S1 determines the virus host range and cellular tropism via the receptor binding domain. S2 mediates the membrane fusion of the virus to its potential cell host via the H1 and HR2, which are heptad repeat regions. Studies have shown that S1 domain induced IgG and IgA antibody levels at a much higher capacity. It is the focus spike proteins expression that are involved in many effective COVID-19 vaccines.
The M protein is the viral protein responsible for the transmembrane transport of nutrients. It is the cause of the bud release and the formation of the viral envelope. The N and E protein are accessory proteins that interfere with the host's immune response.
HOST FACTORS
Human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) is the host factor that SARS-COV2 virus targets causing COVID-19. Theoretically the usage of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and ACE inhibitors upregulating ACE2 expression might increase morbidity with COVID-19, though animal data suggest some potential protective effect of ARB. However no clinical studies have proven susceptibility or outcomes. Until further data is available, guidelines and recommendations for hypertensive patients remain.
The virus' effect on ACE2 cell surfaces leads to leukocytic infiltration, increased blood vessel permeability, alveolar wall permeability, as well as decreased secretion of lung surfactants. These effects cause the majority of the respiratory symptoms. However, the aggravation of local inflammation causes a cytokine storm eventually leading to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
HOST CYTOKINE RESPONSE
The severity of the inflammation can be attributed to the severity of what is known as the cytokine storm. Levels of interleukin 1B, interferon-gamma, interferon-inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were all associated with COVID-19 disease severity. Treatment has been proposed to combat the cytokine storm as it remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 disease.
A cytokine storm is due to an acute hyperinflammatory response that is responsible for clinical illness in an array of diseases but in COVID-19, it is related to worse prognosis and increased fatality. The storm causes the acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clotting events such as strokes, myocardial infarction, encephalitis, acute kidney injury, and vasculitis. The production of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interferon-gamma, all crucial components of normal immune responses, inadvertently become the causes of a cytokine storm. The cells of the central nervous system, the microglia, neurons, and astrocytes, are also be involved in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting the nervous system, and effects of cytokine storms toward the CNS are not uncommon.
DIAGNOSIS
COVID-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or other nucleic acid testing of infected secretions. Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection. Detection of a past infection is possible with serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to the infection.
VIRAL TESTING
The standard methods of testing for presence of SARS-CoV-2 are nucleic acid tests, which detects the presence of viral RNA fragments. As these tests detect RNA but not infectious virus, its "ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited." The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used. Results are generally available within hours. The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.
A number of laboratories and companies have developed serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to infection. Several have been evaluated by Public Health England and approved for use in the UK.
The University of Oxford's CEBM has pointed to mounting evidence that "a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with" and have called for "an international effort to standardize and periodically calibrate testing" On 7 September, the UK government issued "guidance for procedures to be implemented in laboratories to provide assurance of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA results during periods of low prevalence, when there is a reduction in the predictive value of positive test results."
IMAGING
Chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection. Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses. Characteristic imaging features on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) of people who are symptomatic include asymmetric peripheral ground-glass opacities without pleural effusions.
Many groups have created COVID-19 datasets that include imagery such as the Italian Radiological Society which has compiled an international online database of imaging findings for confirmed cases. Due to overlap with other infections such as adenovirus, imaging without confirmation by rRT-PCR is of limited specificity in identifying COVID-19. A large study in China compared chest CT results to PCR and demonstrated that though imaging is less specific for the infection, it is faster and more sensitive.
Coding
In late 2019, the WHO assigned emergency ICD-10 disease codes U07.1 for deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and U07.2 for deaths from clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19 without lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
PATHOLOGY
The main pathological findings at autopsy are:
Macroscopy: pericarditis, lung consolidation and pulmonary oedema
Lung findings:
minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation
pulmonary oedema, pneumocyte hyperplasia, large atypical pneumocytes, interstitial inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation
diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.
organisation of exudates in alveolar cavities and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis
plasmocytosis in BAL
Blood: disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); leukoerythroblastic reaction
Liver: microvesicular steatosis
PREVENTION
Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance from others, ventilating indoor spaces, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who believe they may be infected are advised by the CDC to stay home except to get medical care, call ahead before visiting a healthcare provider, wear a face mask before entering the healthcare provider's office and when in any room or vehicle with another person, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, regularly wash hands with soap and water and avoid sharing personal household items.
The first COVID-19 vaccine was granted regulatory approval on 2 December by the UK medicines regulator MHRA. It was evaluated for emergency use authorization (EUA) status by the US FDA, and in several other countries. Initially, the US National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID-19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside the setting of a clinical trial. Without a vaccine, other prophylactic measures, or effective treatments, a key part of managing COVID-19 is trying to decrease and delay the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve". This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of current cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.
VACCINE
A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was an established body of knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID-19.
In Phase III trials, several COVID‑19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID‑19 infections. As of March 2021, 12 vaccines were authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use: two RNA vaccines (the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine), four conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, Convidicea, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), and two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer). In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates were in various stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24 in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase I–II trials, and 16 in Phase III development.
Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers. As of 17 March 2021, 400.22 million doses of COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national health agencies. AstraZeneca-Oxford anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each. Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and Convidicea 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
Social distancing (also known as physical distancing) includes infection control actions intended to slow the spread of the disease by minimising close contact between individuals. Methods include quarantines; travel restrictions; and the closing of schools, workplaces, stadiums, theatres, or shopping centres. Individuals may apply social distancing methods by staying at home, limiting travel, avoiding crowded areas, using no-contact greetings, and physically distancing themselves from others. Many governments are now mandating or recommending social distancing in regions affected by the outbreak.
Outbreaks have occurred in prisons due to crowding and an inability to enforce adequate social distancing. In the United States, the prisoner population is aging and many of them are at high risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to high rates of coexisting heart and lung disease, and poor access to high-quality healthcare.
SELF-ISOLATION
Self-isolation at home has been recommended for those diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who suspect they have been infected. Health agencies have issued detailed instructions for proper self-isolation. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations. The strongest self-quarantine instructions have been issued to those in high-risk groups. Those who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and those who have recently travelled to a country or region with the widespread transmission have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of last possible exposure.
Face masks and respiratory hygiene
The WHO and the US CDC recommend individuals wear non-medical face coverings in public settings where there is an increased risk of transmission and where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. This recommendation is meant to reduce the spread of the disease by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals and is complementary to established preventive measures such as social distancing. Face coverings limit the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets dispersed when talking, breathing, and coughing. A face covering without vents or holes will also filter out particles containing the virus from inhaled and exhaled air, reducing the chances of infection. But, if the mask include an exhalation valve, a wearer that is infected (maybe without having noticed that, and asymptomatic) would transmit the virus outwards through it, despite any certification they can have. So the masks with exhalation valve are not for the infected wearers, and are not reliable to stop the pandemic in a large scale. Many countries and local jurisdictions encourage or mandate the use of face masks or cloth face coverings by members of the public to limit the spread of the virus.
Masks are also strongly recommended for those who may have been infected and those taking care of someone who may have the disease. When not wearing a mask, the CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available. Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged. Healthcare professionals interacting directly with people who have COVID-19 are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.
HAND-WASHING AND HYGIENE
Thorough hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is required. The WHO also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose. The CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, but only when soap and water are not readily available. For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis". Glycerol is added as a humectant.
SURFACE CLEANING
After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus at the eyes, nose, or mouth where it can enter the body cause infection. Current evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of Covid-19, leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes. Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticized as hygiene theater, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.
The amount of time that the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity. Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to the UV light in sunlight. Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room temperature or lower, and when the relative humidity is low (<50%).
On many surfaces, including as glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature, or even about a week under ideal conditions. On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours. As a general rule of thumb, the virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces.
However, this rule is not absolute, and of the many surfaces tested, two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, both of which are considered porous surfaces.
Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62–71 percent ethanol, 50–100 percent isopropanol, 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.2–7.5 percent povidone-iodine. Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate, are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used. The CDC recommends that if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or day care, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines used by the ill persons should be disinfected. A datasheet comprising the authorised substances to disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, use dilution, disinfectant and inocuylum volumes) can be seen in the supplementary material of.
VENTILATION AND AIR FILTRATION
The WHO recommends ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to help clear out infectious aerosols.
HEALTHY DIET AND LIFESTYLE
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends a healthy diet, being physically active, managing psychological stress, and getting enough sleep.
While there is no evidence that vitamin D is an effective treatment for COVID-19, there is limited evidence that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. This has led to recommendations for individuals with vitamin D deficiency to take vitamin D supplements as a way of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 and other health issues associated with a possible increase in deficiency due to social distancing.
TREATMENT
There is no specific, effective treatment or cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, the cornerstone of management of COVID-19 is supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support and prone positioning as needed, and medications or devices to support other affected vital organs.
Most cases of COVID-19 are mild. In these, supportive care includes medication such as paracetamol or NSAIDs to relieve symptoms (fever, body aches, cough), proper intake of fluids, rest, and nasal breathing. Good personal hygiene and a healthy diet are also recommended. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that those who suspect they are carrying the virus isolate themselves at home and wear a face mask.
People with more severe cases may need treatment in hospital. In those with low oxygen levels, use of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone is strongly recommended, as it can reduce the risk of death. Noninvasive ventilation and, ultimately, admission to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation may be required to support breathing. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to address the issue of respiratory failure, but its benefits are still under consideration.
Several experimental treatments are being actively studied in clinical trials. Others were thought to be promising early in the pandemic, such as hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, but later research found them to be ineffective or even harmful. Despite ongoing research, there is still not enough high-quality evidence to recommend so-called early treatment. Nevertheless, in the United States, two monoclonal antibody-based therapies are available for early use in cases thought to be at high risk of progression to severe disease. The antiviral remdesivir is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several other countries, with varying restrictions; however, it is not recommended for people needing mechanical ventilation, and is discouraged altogether by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to limited evidence of its efficacy.
PROGNOSIS
The severity of COVID-19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3–4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalization. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID-19 and with a transfer to ICU.
Some early studies suggest 10% to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month.[191][192] A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems including fatigue and shortness of breath. On 30 October 2020 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom warned that "to a significant number of people, the COVID virus poses a range of serious long-term effects". He has described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as "really concerning." They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs – including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. Infected people have reported cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, months of complete exhaustion, mood swings, and other symptoms. Tedros has concluded that therefore herd immunity is "morally unconscionable and unfeasible".
In terms of hospital readmissions about 9% of 106,000 individuals had to return for hospital treatment within 2 months of discharge. The average to readmit was 8 days since first hospital visit. There are several risk factors that have been identified as being a cause of multiple admissions to a hospital facility. Among these are advanced age (above 65 years of age) and presence of a chronic condition such as diabetes, COPD, heart failure or chronic kidney disease.
According to scientific reviews smokers are more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers, air pollution is similarly associated with risk factors, and pre-existing heart and lung diseases and also obesity contributes to an increased health risk of COVID-19.
It is also assumed that those that are immunocompromised are at higher risk of getting severely sick from SARS-CoV-2. One research that looked into the COVID-19 infections in hospitalized kidney transplant recipients found a mortality rate of 11%.
See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children
Children make up a small proportion of reported cases, with about 1% of cases being under 10 years and 4% aged 10–19 years. They are likely to have milder symptoms and a lower chance of severe disease than adults. A European multinational study of hospitalized children published in The Lancet on 25 June 2020 found that about 8% of children admitted to a hospital needed intensive care. Four of those 582 children (0.7%) died, but the actual mortality rate could be "substantially lower" since milder cases that did not seek medical help were not included in the study.
Genetics also plays an important role in the ability to fight off the disease. For instance, those that do not produce detectable type I interferons or produce auto-antibodies against these may get much sicker from COVID-19. Genetic screening is able to detect interferon effector genes.
Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.
COMPLICATIONS
Complications may include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and death. Cardiovascular complications may include heart failure, arrhythmias, heart inflammation, and blood clots. Approximately 20–30% of people who present with COVID-19 have elevated liver enzymes, reflecting liver injury.
Neurologic manifestations include seizure, stroke, encephalitis, and Guillain–Barré syndrome (which includes loss of motor functions). Following the infection, children may develop paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can be fatal. In very rare cases, acute encephalopathy can occur, and it can be considered in those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have an altered mental status.
LONGER-TERM EFFECTS
Some early studies suggest that that 10 to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital progress to severe or critical disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.
By a variety of mechanisms, the lungs are the organs most affected in COVID-19.[228] The majority of CT scans performed show lung abnormalities in people tested after 28 days of illness.
People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one third of those investigated after 4 weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in people who are asymptomatic, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time.
IMMUNITY
The immune response by humans to CoV-2 virus occurs as a combination of the cell-mediated immunity and antibody production, just as with most other infections. Since SARS-CoV-2 has been in the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people who recover from the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the level of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Those with asymptomatic or mild disease had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibody two months after infection. In another study, the level of neutralizing antibody fell 4-fold 1 to 4 months after the onset of symptoms. However, the lack of antibody in the blood does not mean antibody will not be rapidly produced upon reexposure to SARS-CoV-2. Memory B cells specific for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 last for at least 6 months after appearance of symptoms. Nevertheless, 15 cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported using stringent CDC criteria requiring identification of a different variant from the second infection. There are likely to be many more people who have been reinfected with the virus. Herd immunity will not eliminate the virus if reinfection is common. Some other coronaviruses circulating in people are capable of reinfection after roughly a year. Nonetheless, on 3 March 2021, scientists reported that a much more contagious Covid-19 variant, Lineage P.1, first detected in Japan, and subsequently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated with Covid-19 disease reinfection after recovery from an earlier Covid-19 infection.
MORTALITY
Several measures are commonly used to quantify mortality. These numbers vary by region and over time and are influenced by the volume of testing, healthcare system quality, treatment options, time since the initial outbreak, and population characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health. The mortality rate reflects the number of deaths within a specific demographic group divided by the population of that demographic group. Consequently, the mortality rate reflects the prevalence as well as the severity of the disease within a given population. Mortality rates are highly correlated to age, with relatively low rates for young people and relatively high rates among the elderly.
The case fatality rate (CFR) reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 2.2% (2,685,770/121,585,388) as of 18 March 2021. The number varies by region. The CFR may not reflect the true severity of the disease, because some infected individuals remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, and hence such infections may not be included in official case reports. Moreover, the CFR may vary markedly over time and across locations due to the availability of live virus tests.
INFECTION FATALITY RATE
A key metric in gauging the severity of COVID-19 is the infection fatality rate (IFR), also referred to as the infection fatality ratio or infection fatality risk. This metric is calculated by dividing the total number of deaths from the disease by the total number of infected individuals; hence, in contrast to the CFR, the IFR incorporates asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections as well as reported cases.
CURRENT ESTIMATES
A December 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis estimated that population IFR during the first wave of the pandemic was about 0.5% to 1% in many locations (including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal), 1% to 2% in other locations (Australia, England, Lithuania, and Spain), and exceeded 2% in Italy. That study also found that most of these differences in IFR reflected corresponding differences in the age composition of the population and age-specific infection rates; in particular, the metaregression estimate of IFR is very low for children and younger adults (e.g., 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25) but increases progressively to 0.4% at age 55, 1.4% at age 65, 4.6% at age 75, and 15% at age 85. These results were also highlighted in a December 2020 report issued by the WHO.
EARLIER ESTIMATES OF IFR
At an early stage of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reported estimates of IFR between 0.3% and 1%.[ On 2 July, The WHO's chief scientist reported that the average IFR estimate presented at a two-day WHO expert forum was about 0.6%. In August, the WHO found that studies incorporating data from broad serology testing in Europe showed IFR estimates converging at approximately 0.5–1%. Firm lower limits of IFRs have been established in a number of locations such as New York City and Bergamo in Italy since the IFR cannot be less than the population fatality rate. As of 10 July, in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, 23,377 individuals (18,758 confirmed and 4,619 probable) have died with COVID-19 (0.3% of the population).Antibody testing in New York City suggested an IFR of ~0.9%,[258] and ~1.4%. In Bergamo province, 0.6% of the population has died. In September 2020 the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention reported preliminary estimates of age-specific IFRs for public health planning purposes.
SEX DIFFERENCES
Early reviews of epidemiologic data showed gendered impact of the pandemic and a higher mortality rate in men in China and Italy. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the death rate was 2.8% for men and 1.7% for women. Later reviews in June 2020 indicated that there is no significant difference in susceptibility or in CFR between genders. One review acknowledges the different mortality rates in Chinese men, suggesting that it may be attributable to lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking alcohol rather than genetic factors. Sex-based immunological differences, lesser prevalence of smoking in women and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men. In Europe, 57% of the infected people were men and 72% of those died with COVID-19 were men. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.
ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
In the US, a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred among African Americans and other minority groups. Structural factors that prevent them from practicing social distancing include their concentration in crowded substandard housing and in "essential" occupations such as retail grocery workers, public transit employees, health-care workers and custodial staff. Greater prevalence of lacking health insurance and care and of underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease also increase their risk of death. Similar issues affect Native American and Latino communities. According to a US health policy non-profit, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native People (AIAN) non-elderly adults are at risk of serious illness compared to 21% of white non-elderly adults. The source attributes it to disproportionately high rates of many health conditions that may put them at higher risk as well as living conditions like lack of access to clean water. Leaders have called for efforts to research and address the disparities. In the U.K., a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred in those of a Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority background. More severe impacts upon victims including the relative incidence of the necessity of hospitalization requirements, and vulnerability to the disease has been associated via DNA analysis to be expressed in genetic variants at chromosomal region 3, features that are associated with European Neanderthal heritage. That structure imposes greater risks that those affected will develop a more severe form of the disease. The findings are from Professor Svante Pääbo and researchers he leads at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet. This admixture of modern human and Neanderthal genes is estimated to have occurred roughly between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago in Southern Europe.
COMORBIDITIES
Most of those who die of COVID-19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available, 96.1% of people had at least one comorbidity with the average person having 3.4 diseases. According to this report the most common comorbidities are hypertension (66% of deaths), type 2 diabetes (29.8% of deaths), Ischemic Heart Disease (27.6% of deaths), atrial fibrillation (23.1% of deaths) and chronic renal failure (20.2% of deaths).
Most critical respiratory comorbidities according to the CDC, are: moderate or severe asthma, pre-existing COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis. Evidence stemming from meta-analysis of several smaller research papers also suggests that smoking can be associated with worse outcomes. When someone with existing respiratory problems is infected with COVID-19, they might be at greater risk for severe symptoms. COVID-19 also poses a greater risk to people who misuse opioids and methamphetamines, insofar as their drug use may have caused lung damage.
In August 2020 the CDC issued a caution that tuberculosis infections could increase the risk of severe illness or death. The WHO recommended that people with respiratory symptoms be screened for both diseases, as testing positive for COVID-19 couldn't rule out co-infections. Some projections have estimated that reduced TB detection due to the pandemic could result in 6.3 million additional TB cases and 1.4 million TB related deaths by 2025.
NAME
During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCov and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. The official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020. Tedros Adhanom explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019). The WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications.
HISTORY
The virus is thought to be natural and of an animal origin, through spillover infection. There are several theories about where the first case (the so-called patient zero) originated. Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019. Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats, and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.
The first known human infections were in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID-19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, reported the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1 December 2019.Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019. Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020. According to official Chinese sources, these were mostly linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. In May 2020 George Gao, the director of the CDC, said animal samples collected from the seafood market had tested negative for the virus, indicating that the market was the site of an early superspreading event, but that it was not the site of the initial outbreak.[ Traces of the virus have been found in wastewater samples that were collected in Milan and Turin, Italy, on 18 December 2019.
By December 2019, the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. The number of coronavirus cases in Hubei gradually increased, reaching 60 by 20 December, and at least 266 by 31 December. On 24 December, Wuhan Central Hospital sent a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample from an unresolved clinical case to sequencing company Vision Medicals. On 27 and 28 December, Vision Medicals informed the Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese CDC of the results of the test, showing a new coronavirus. A pneumonia cluster of unknown cause was observed on 26 December and treated by the doctor Zhang Jixian in Hubei Provincial Hospital, who informed the Wuhan Jianghan CDC on 27 December. On 30 December, a test report addressed to Wuhan Central Hospital, from company CapitalBio Medlab, stated an erroneous positive result for SARS, causing a group of doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital to alert their colleagues and relevant hospital authorities of the result. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to various medical institutions on "the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" that same evening. Eight of these doctors, including Li Wenliang (punished on 3 January), were later admonished by the police for spreading false rumours and another, Ai Fen, was reprimanded by her superiors for raising the alarm.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made the first public announcement of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause on 31 December, confirming 27 cases—enough to trigger an investigation.
During the early stages of the outbreak, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days. In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration and Wuhan being a transport hub and major rail interchange. On 20 January, China reported nearly 140 new cases in one day, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. Later official data shows 6,174 people had already developed symptoms by then, and more may have been infected. A report in The Lancet on 24 January indicated human transmission, strongly recommended personal protective equipment for health workers, and said testing for the virus was essential due to its "pandemic potential". On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.
Italy had its first confirmed cases on 31 January 2020, two tourists from China. As of 13 March 2020 the WHO considered Europe the active centre of the pandemic. Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths on 19 March 2020. By 26 March the United States had overtaken China and Italy with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travellers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country. Retesting of prior samples found a person in France who had the virus on 27 December 2019, and a person in the United States who died from the disease on 6 February 2020.
After 55 days without a locally transmitted case, Beijing reported a new COVID-19 case on 11 June 2020 which was followed by two more cases on 12 June. By 15 June there were 79 cases officially confirmed, most of them were people that went to Xinfadi Wholesale Market.
RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. A September 2020 review journal article said, "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.
MISINFORMATION
After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease rapidly spread online.
In September 2020, the U.S. CDC published preliminary estimates of the risk of death by age groups in the United States, but those estimates were widely misreported and misunderstood.
OTHER ANIMALS
Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals, a type of disease transmission referred to as zooanthroponosis.
Some pets, especially cats and ferrets, can catch this virus from infected humans. Symptoms in cats include respiratory (such as a cough) and digestive symptoms. Cats can spread the virus to other cats, and may be able to spread the virus to humans, but cat-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been proven. Compared to cats, dogs are less susceptible to this infection. Behaviors which increase the risk of transmission include kissing, licking, and petting the animal.
The virus does not appear to be able to infect pigs, ducks, or chickens at all.[ Mice, rats, and rabbits, if they can be infected at all, are unlikely to be involved in spreading the virus.
Tigers and lions in zoos have become infected as a result of contact with infected humans. As expected, monkeys and great ape species such as orangutans can also be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Minks, which are in the same family as ferrets, have been infected. Minks may be asymptomatic, and can also spread the virus to humans. Multiple countries have identified infected animals in mink farms. Denmark, a major producer of mink pelts, ordered the slaughter of all minks over fears of viral mutations. A vaccine for mink and other animals is being researched.
RESEARCH
International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID-19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers. The CDC has classified it to require a BSL3 grade laboratory. There has been a great deal of COVID-19 research, involving accelerated research processes and publishing shortcuts to meet the global demand.
As of December 2020, hundreds of clinical trials have been undertaken, with research happening on every continent except Antarctica. As of November 2020, more than 200 possible treatments had been studied in humans so far.
Transmission and prevention research
Modelling research has been conducted with several objectives, including predictions of the dynamics of transmission, diagnosis and prognosis of infection, estimation of the impact of interventions, or allocation of resources. Modelling studies are mostly based on epidemiological models, estimating the number of infected people over time under given conditions. Several other types of models have been developed and used during the COVID-19 including computational fluid dynamics models to study the flow physics of COVID-19, retrofits of crowd movement models to study occupant exposure, mobility-data based models to investigate transmission, or the use of macroeconomic models to assess the economic impact of the pandemic. Further, conceptual frameworks from crisis management research have been applied to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on organizations worldwide.
TREATMENT-RELATED RESEARCH
Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the research into COVID-19 treatments. Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Solidarity trial to assess the treatment effects of some promising drugs: an experimental drug called remdesivir; anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir/ritonavir; and interferon-beta. More than 300 active clinical trials were underway as of April 2020.
Research on the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine showed that they were ineffective at best, and that they may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. By May 2020, France, Italy, and Belgium had banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.
In June, initial results from the randomised RECOVERY Trial in the United Kingdom showed that dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third for people who are critically ill on ventilators and one fifth for those receiving supplemental oxygen. Because this is a well-tested and widely available treatment, it was welcomed by the WHO, which is in the process of updating treatment guidelines to include dexamethasone and other steroids. Based on those preliminary results, dexamethasone treatment has been recommended by the NIH for patients with COVID-19 who are mechanically ventilated or who require supplemental oxygen but not in patients with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen.
In September 2020, the WHO released updated guidance on using corticosteroids for COVID-19. The WHO recommends systemic corticosteroids rather than no systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of people with severe and critical COVID-19 (strong recommendation, based on moderate certainty evidence). The WHO suggests not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of people with non-severe COVID-19 (conditional recommendation, based on low certainty evidence). The updated guidance was based on a meta-analysis of clinical trials of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
WIKIPEDIA
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are more likely to have severe symptoms. At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus remain asymptomatic and do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time, but they still can spread the disease.[ Around 20% of those people will remain asymptomatic throughout infection, and the rest will develop symptoms later on, becoming pre-symptomatic rather than asymptomatic and therefore having a higher risk of transmitting the virus to others. Some people continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months after recovery, and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly when an infected person is in close contact[a] with another person. Small droplets and aerosols containing the virus can spread from an infected person's nose and mouth as they breathe, cough, sneeze, sing, or speak. Other people are infected if the virus gets into their mouth, nose or eyes. The virus may also spread via contaminated surfaces, although this is not thought to be the main route of transmission. The exact route of transmission is rarely proven conclusively, but infection mainly happens when people are near each other for long enough. People who are infected can transmit the virus to another person up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, as can people who do not experience symptoms. People remain infectious for up to ten days after the onset of symptoms in moderate cases and up to 20 days in severe cases. Several testing methods have been developed to diagnose the disease. The standard diagnostic method is by detection of the virus' nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), or by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) from a nasopharyngeal swab.
Preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimise the risk of transmissions. Several vaccines have been developed and several countries have initiated mass vaccination campaigns.
Although work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is currently symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.
SIGNS AND SYSTOMS
Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Common symptoms include headache, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, cough, muscle pain, sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. People with the same infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time. Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified: one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and fever; a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue; a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19.
Most people (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging) and 5% of patients suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time. These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested and can spread the disease. Other infected people will develop symptoms later, called "pre-symptomatic", or have very mild symptoms and can also spread the virus.
As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms. The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days. Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, and almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days.
Most people recover from the acute phase of the disease. However, some people continue to experience a range of effects for months after recovery—named long COVID—and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.
CAUSE
TRANSMISSION
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads from person to person mainly through the respiratory route after an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes. A new infection occurs when virus-containing particles exhaled by an infected person, either respiratory droplets or aerosols, get into the mouth, nose, or eyes of other people who are in close contact with the infected person. During human-to-human transmission, an average 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions are thought to initiate a new infection.
The closer people interact, and the longer they interact, the more likely they are to transmit COVID-19. Closer distances can involve larger droplets (which fall to the ground) and aerosols, whereas longer distances only involve aerosols. Larger droplets can also turn into aerosols (known as droplet nuclei) through evaporation. The relative importance of the larger droplets and the aerosols is not clear as of November 2020; however, the virus is not known to spread between rooms over long distances such as through air ducts. Airborne transmission is able to particularly occur indoors, in high risk locations such as restaurants, choirs, gyms, nightclubs, offices, and religious venues, often when they are crowded or less ventilated. It also occurs in healthcare settings, often when aerosol-generating medical procedures are performed on COVID-19 patients.
Although it is considered possible there is no direct evidence of the virus being transmitted by skin to skin contact. A person could get COVID-19 indirectly by touching a contaminated surface or object before touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes, though this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. The virus is not known to spread through feces, urine, breast milk, food, wastewater, drinking water, or via animal disease vectors (although some animals can contract the virus from humans). It very rarely transmits from mother to baby during pregnancy.
Social distancing and the wearing of cloth face masks, surgical masks, respirators, or other face coverings are controls for droplet transmission. Transmission may be decreased indoors with well maintained heating and ventilation systems to maintain good air circulation and increase the use of outdoor air.
The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies. Coronavirus disease 2019 is more infectious than influenza, but less so than measles. It often spreads in clusters, where infections can be traced back to an index case or geographical location. There is a major role of "super-spreading events", where many people are infected by one person.
A person who is infected can transmit the virus to others up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, and even if symptoms never appear. People remain infectious in moderate cases for 7–12 days, and up to two weeks in severe cases. In October 2020, medical scientists reported evidence of reinfection in one person.
VIROLOGY
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It was first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature.
Outside the human body, the virus is destroyed by household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.
SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have an animal (zoonotic) origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13). The structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 include membrane glycoprotein (M), envelope protein (E), nucleocapsid protein (N), and the spike protein (S). The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 is about 98% similar to the M protein of bat SARS-CoV, maintains around 98% homology with pangolin SARS-CoV, and has 90% homology with the M protein of SARS-CoV; whereas, the similarity is only around 38% with the M protein of MERS-CoV. The structure of the M protein resembles the sugar transporter SemiSWEET.
The many thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants are grouped into clades. Several different clade nomenclatures have been proposed. Nextstrain divides the variants into five clades (19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, and 20C), while GISAID divides them into seven (L, O, V, S, G, GH, and GR).
Several notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2020. Cluster 5 emerged among minks and mink farmers in Denmark. After strict quarantines and a mink euthanasia campaign, it is believed to have been eradicated. The Variant of Concern 202012/01 (VOC 202012/01) is believed to have emerged in the United Kingdom in September. The 501Y.V2 Variant, which has the same N501Y mutation, arose independently in South Africa.
SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS
Three known variants of SARS-CoV-2 are currently spreading among global populations as of January 2021 including the UK Variant (referred to as B.1.1.7) first found in London and Kent, a variant discovered in South Africa (referred to as 1.351), and a variant discovered in Brazil (referred to as P.1).
Using Whole Genome Sequencing, epidemiology and modelling suggest the new UK variant ‘VUI – 202012/01’ (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020) transmits more easily than other strains.
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
COVID-19 can affect the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) and the lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID-19 because the virus accesses host cells via the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" (peplomer) to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell. The density of ACE2 in each tissue correlates with the severity of the disease in that tissue and decreasing ACE2 activity might be protective, though another view is that increasing ACE2 using angiotensin II receptor blocker medications could be protective. As the alveolar disease progresses, respiratory failure might develop and death may follow.
Whether SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the nervous system remains unknown. The virus is not detected in the CNS of the majority of COVID-19 people with neurological issues. However, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected at low levels in the brains of those who have died from COVID-19, but these results need to be confirmed. SARS-CoV-2 could cause respiratory failure through affecting the brain stem as other coronaviruses have been found to invade the CNS. While virus has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of autopsies, the exact mechanism by which it invades the CNS remains unclear and may first involve invasion of peripheral nerves given the low levels of ACE2 in the brain. The virus may also enter the bloodstream from the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier to gain access to the CNS, possibly within an infected white blood cell.
The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.
The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system. An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China, and is more frequent in severe disease. Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart. ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function. A high incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism have been found people transferred to Intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 infections, and may be related to poor prognosis. Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels caused by blood clots) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside the presentation of viral pneumonia. Furthermore, microvascular blood vessel damage has been reported in a small number of tissue samples of the brains – without detected SARS-CoV-2 – and the olfactory bulbs from those who have died from COVID-19.
Another common cause of death is complications related to the kidneys. Early reports show that up to 30% of hospitalized patients both in China and in New York have experienced some injury to their kidneys, including some persons with no previous kidney problems.
Autopsies of people who died of COVID-19 have found diffuse alveolar damage, and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.
IMMUNOPATHOLOGY
Although SARS-CoV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, people with severe COVID-19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL-2, IL-7, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.
Additionally, people with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.
Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T-cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in people with COVID-19 . Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.
VIRAL AND HOST FACTORS
VIRUS PROTEINS
Multiple viral and host factors affect the pathogenesis of the virus. The S-protein, otherwise known as the spike protein, is the viral component that attaches to the host receptor via the ACE2 receptors. It includes two subunits: S1 and S2. S1 determines the virus host range and cellular tropism via the receptor binding domain. S2 mediates the membrane fusion of the virus to its potential cell host via the H1 and HR2, which are heptad repeat regions. Studies have shown that S1 domain induced IgG and IgA antibody levels at a much higher capacity. It is the focus spike proteins expression that are involved in many effective COVID-19 vaccines.
The M protein is the viral protein responsible for the transmembrane transport of nutrients. It is the cause of the bud release and the formation of the viral envelope. The N and E protein are accessory proteins that interfere with the host's immune response.
HOST FACTORS
Human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) is the host factor that SARS-COV2 virus targets causing COVID-19. Theoretically the usage of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and ACE inhibitors upregulating ACE2 expression might increase morbidity with COVID-19, though animal data suggest some potential protective effect of ARB. However no clinical studies have proven susceptibility or outcomes. Until further data is available, guidelines and recommendations for hypertensive patients remain.
The virus' effect on ACE2 cell surfaces leads to leukocytic infiltration, increased blood vessel permeability, alveolar wall permeability, as well as decreased secretion of lung surfactants. These effects cause the majority of the respiratory symptoms. However, the aggravation of local inflammation causes a cytokine storm eventually leading to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
HOST CYTOKINE RESPONSE
The severity of the inflammation can be attributed to the severity of what is known as the cytokine storm. Levels of interleukin 1B, interferon-gamma, interferon-inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were all associated with COVID-19 disease severity. Treatment has been proposed to combat the cytokine storm as it remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 disease.
A cytokine storm is due to an acute hyperinflammatory response that is responsible for clinical illness in an array of diseases but in COVID-19, it is related to worse prognosis and increased fatality. The storm causes the acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clotting events such as strokes, myocardial infarction, encephalitis, acute kidney injury, and vasculitis. The production of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interferon-gamma, all crucial components of normal immune responses, inadvertently become the causes of a cytokine storm. The cells of the central nervous system, the microglia, neurons, and astrocytes, are also be involved in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting the nervous system, and effects of cytokine storms toward the CNS are not uncommon.
DIAGNOSIS
COVID-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or other nucleic acid testing of infected secretions. Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection. Detection of a past infection is possible with serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to the infection.
VIRAL TESTING
The standard methods of testing for presence of SARS-CoV-2 are nucleic acid tests, which detects the presence of viral RNA fragments. As these tests detect RNA but not infectious virus, its "ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited." The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used. Results are generally available within hours. The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.
A number of laboratories and companies have developed serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to infection. Several have been evaluated by Public Health England and approved for use in the UK.
The University of Oxford's CEBM has pointed to mounting evidence that "a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with" and have called for "an international effort to standardize and periodically calibrate testing" On 7 September, the UK government issued "guidance for procedures to be implemented in laboratories to provide assurance of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA results during periods of low prevalence, when there is a reduction in the predictive value of positive test results."
IMAGING
Chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection. Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses. Characteristic imaging features on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) of people who are symptomatic include asymmetric peripheral ground-glass opacities without pleural effusions.
Many groups have created COVID-19 datasets that include imagery such as the Italian Radiological Society which has compiled an international online database of imaging findings for confirmed cases. Due to overlap with other infections such as adenovirus, imaging without confirmation by rRT-PCR is of limited specificity in identifying COVID-19. A large study in China compared chest CT results to PCR and demonstrated that though imaging is less specific for the infection, it is faster and more sensitive.
Coding
In late 2019, the WHO assigned emergency ICD-10 disease codes U07.1 for deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and U07.2 for deaths from clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19 without lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
PATHOLOGY
The main pathological findings at autopsy are:
Macroscopy: pericarditis, lung consolidation and pulmonary oedema
Lung findings:
minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation
pulmonary oedema, pneumocyte hyperplasia, large atypical pneumocytes, interstitial inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation
diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.
organisation of exudates in alveolar cavities and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis
plasmocytosis in BAL
Blood: disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); leukoerythroblastic reaction
Liver: microvesicular steatosis
PREVENTION
Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance from others, ventilating indoor spaces, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who believe they may be infected are advised by the CDC to stay home except to get medical care, call ahead before visiting a healthcare provider, wear a face mask before entering the healthcare provider's office and when in any room or vehicle with another person, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, regularly wash hands with soap and water and avoid sharing personal household items.
The first COVID-19 vaccine was granted regulatory approval on 2 December by the UK medicines regulator MHRA. It was evaluated for emergency use authorization (EUA) status by the US FDA, and in several other countries. Initially, the US National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID-19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside the setting of a clinical trial. Without a vaccine, other prophylactic measures, or effective treatments, a key part of managing COVID-19 is trying to decrease and delay the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve". This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of current cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.
VACCINE
A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was an established body of knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID-19.
In Phase III trials, several COVID‑19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID‑19 infections. As of March 2021, 12 vaccines were authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use: two RNA vaccines (the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine), four conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, Convidicea, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), and two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer). In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates were in various stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24 in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase I–II trials, and 16 in Phase III development.
Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers. As of 17 March 2021, 400.22 million doses of COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national health agencies. AstraZeneca-Oxford anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each. Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and Convidicea 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
Social distancing (also known as physical distancing) includes infection control actions intended to slow the spread of the disease by minimising close contact between individuals. Methods include quarantines; travel restrictions; and the closing of schools, workplaces, stadiums, theatres, or shopping centres. Individuals may apply social distancing methods by staying at home, limiting travel, avoiding crowded areas, using no-contact greetings, and physically distancing themselves from others. Many governments are now mandating or recommending social distancing in regions affected by the outbreak.
Outbreaks have occurred in prisons due to crowding and an inability to enforce adequate social distancing. In the United States, the prisoner population is aging and many of them are at high risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to high rates of coexisting heart and lung disease, and poor access to high-quality healthcare.
SELF-ISOLATION
Self-isolation at home has been recommended for those diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who suspect they have been infected. Health agencies have issued detailed instructions for proper self-isolation. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations. The strongest self-quarantine instructions have been issued to those in high-risk groups. Those who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and those who have recently travelled to a country or region with the widespread transmission have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of last possible exposure.
Face masks and respiratory hygiene
The WHO and the US CDC recommend individuals wear non-medical face coverings in public settings where there is an increased risk of transmission and where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. This recommendation is meant to reduce the spread of the disease by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals and is complementary to established preventive measures such as social distancing. Face coverings limit the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets dispersed when talking, breathing, and coughing. A face covering without vents or holes will also filter out particles containing the virus from inhaled and exhaled air, reducing the chances of infection. But, if the mask include an exhalation valve, a wearer that is infected (maybe without having noticed that, and asymptomatic) would transmit the virus outwards through it, despite any certification they can have. So the masks with exhalation valve are not for the infected wearers, and are not reliable to stop the pandemic in a large scale. Many countries and local jurisdictions encourage or mandate the use of face masks or cloth face coverings by members of the public to limit the spread of the virus.
Masks are also strongly recommended for those who may have been infected and those taking care of someone who may have the disease. When not wearing a mask, the CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available. Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged. Healthcare professionals interacting directly with people who have COVID-19 are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.
HAND-WASHING AND HYGIENE
Thorough hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is required. The WHO also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose. The CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, but only when soap and water are not readily available. For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis". Glycerol is added as a humectant.
SURFACE CLEANING
After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus at the eyes, nose, or mouth where it can enter the body cause infection. Current evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of Covid-19, leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes. Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticized as hygiene theater, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.
The amount of time that the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity. Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to the UV light in sunlight. Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room temperature or lower, and when the relative humidity is low (<50%).
On many surfaces, including as glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature, or even about a week under ideal conditions. On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours. As a general rule of thumb, the virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces.
However, this rule is not absolute, and of the many surfaces tested, two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, both of which are considered porous surfaces.
Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62–71 percent ethanol, 50–100 percent isopropanol, 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.2–7.5 percent povidone-iodine. Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate, are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used. The CDC recommends that if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or day care, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines used by the ill persons should be disinfected. A datasheet comprising the authorised substances to disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, use dilution, disinfectant and inocuylum volumes) can be seen in the supplementary material of.
VENTILATION AND AIR FILTRATION
The WHO recommends ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to help clear out infectious aerosols.
HEALTHY DIET AND LIFESTYLE
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends a healthy diet, being physically active, managing psychological stress, and getting enough sleep.
While there is no evidence that vitamin D is an effective treatment for COVID-19, there is limited evidence that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. This has led to recommendations for individuals with vitamin D deficiency to take vitamin D supplements as a way of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 and other health issues associated with a possible increase in deficiency due to social distancing.
TREATMENT
There is no specific, effective treatment or cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, the cornerstone of management of COVID-19 is supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support and prone positioning as needed, and medications or devices to support other affected vital organs.
Most cases of COVID-19 are mild. In these, supportive care includes medication such as paracetamol or NSAIDs to relieve symptoms (fever, body aches, cough), proper intake of fluids, rest, and nasal breathing. Good personal hygiene and a healthy diet are also recommended. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that those who suspect they are carrying the virus isolate themselves at home and wear a face mask.
People with more severe cases may need treatment in hospital. In those with low oxygen levels, use of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone is strongly recommended, as it can reduce the risk of death. Noninvasive ventilation and, ultimately, admission to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation may be required to support breathing. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to address the issue of respiratory failure, but its benefits are still under consideration.
Several experimental treatments are being actively studied in clinical trials. Others were thought to be promising early in the pandemic, such as hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, but later research found them to be ineffective or even harmful. Despite ongoing research, there is still not enough high-quality evidence to recommend so-called early treatment. Nevertheless, in the United States, two monoclonal antibody-based therapies are available for early use in cases thought to be at high risk of progression to severe disease. The antiviral remdesivir is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several other countries, with varying restrictions; however, it is not recommended for people needing mechanical ventilation, and is discouraged altogether by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to limited evidence of its efficacy.
PROGNOSIS
The severity of COVID-19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3–4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalization. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID-19 and with a transfer to ICU.
Some early studies suggest 10% to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month.[191][192] A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems including fatigue and shortness of breath. On 30 October 2020 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom warned that "to a significant number of people, the COVID virus poses a range of serious long-term effects". He has described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as "really concerning." They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs – including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. Infected people have reported cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, months of complete exhaustion, mood swings, and other symptoms. Tedros has concluded that therefore herd immunity is "morally unconscionable and unfeasible".
In terms of hospital readmissions about 9% of 106,000 individuals had to return for hospital treatment within 2 months of discharge. The average to readmit was 8 days since first hospital visit. There are several risk factors that have been identified as being a cause of multiple admissions to a hospital facility. Among these are advanced age (above 65 years of age) and presence of a chronic condition such as diabetes, COPD, heart failure or chronic kidney disease.
According to scientific reviews smokers are more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers, air pollution is similarly associated with risk factors, and pre-existing heart and lung diseases and also obesity contributes to an increased health risk of COVID-19.
It is also assumed that those that are immunocompromised are at higher risk of getting severely sick from SARS-CoV-2. One research that looked into the COVID-19 infections in hospitalized kidney transplant recipients found a mortality rate of 11%.
See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children
Children make up a small proportion of reported cases, with about 1% of cases being under 10 years and 4% aged 10–19 years. They are likely to have milder symptoms and a lower chance of severe disease than adults. A European multinational study of hospitalized children published in The Lancet on 25 June 2020 found that about 8% of children admitted to a hospital needed intensive care. Four of those 582 children (0.7%) died, but the actual mortality rate could be "substantially lower" since milder cases that did not seek medical help were not included in the study.
Genetics also plays an important role in the ability to fight off the disease. For instance, those that do not produce detectable type I interferons or produce auto-antibodies against these may get much sicker from COVID-19. Genetic screening is able to detect interferon effector genes.
Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.
COMPLICATIONS
Complications may include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and death. Cardiovascular complications may include heart failure, arrhythmias, heart inflammation, and blood clots. Approximately 20–30% of people who present with COVID-19 have elevated liver enzymes, reflecting liver injury.
Neurologic manifestations include seizure, stroke, encephalitis, and Guillain–Barré syndrome (which includes loss of motor functions). Following the infection, children may develop paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can be fatal. In very rare cases, acute encephalopathy can occur, and it can be considered in those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have an altered mental status.
LONGER-TERM EFFECTS
Some early studies suggest that that 10 to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital progress to severe or critical disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.
By a variety of mechanisms, the lungs are the organs most affected in COVID-19.[228] The majority of CT scans performed show lung abnormalities in people tested after 28 days of illness.
People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one third of those investigated after 4 weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in people who are asymptomatic, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time.
IMMUNITY
The immune response by humans to CoV-2 virus occurs as a combination of the cell-mediated immunity and antibody production, just as with most other infections. Since SARS-CoV-2 has been in the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people who recover from the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the level of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Those with asymptomatic or mild disease had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibody two months after infection. In another study, the level of neutralizing antibody fell 4-fold 1 to 4 months after the onset of symptoms. However, the lack of antibody in the blood does not mean antibody will not be rapidly produced upon reexposure to SARS-CoV-2. Memory B cells specific for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 last for at least 6 months after appearance of symptoms. Nevertheless, 15 cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported using stringent CDC criteria requiring identification of a different variant from the second infection. There are likely to be many more people who have been reinfected with the virus. Herd immunity will not eliminate the virus if reinfection is common. Some other coronaviruses circulating in people are capable of reinfection after roughly a year. Nonetheless, on 3 March 2021, scientists reported that a much more contagious Covid-19 variant, Lineage P.1, first detected in Japan, and subsequently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated with Covid-19 disease reinfection after recovery from an earlier Covid-19 infection.
MORTALITY
Several measures are commonly used to quantify mortality. These numbers vary by region and over time and are influenced by the volume of testing, healthcare system quality, treatment options, time since the initial outbreak, and population characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health. The mortality rate reflects the number of deaths within a specific demographic group divided by the population of that demographic group. Consequently, the mortality rate reflects the prevalence as well as the severity of the disease within a given population. Mortality rates are highly correlated to age, with relatively low rates for young people and relatively high rates among the elderly.
The case fatality rate (CFR) reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 2.2% (2,685,770/121,585,388) as of 18 March 2021. The number varies by region. The CFR may not reflect the true severity of the disease, because some infected individuals remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, and hence such infections may not be included in official case reports. Moreover, the CFR may vary markedly over time and across locations due to the availability of live virus tests.
INFECTION FATALITY RATE
A key metric in gauging the severity of COVID-19 is the infection fatality rate (IFR), also referred to as the infection fatality ratio or infection fatality risk. This metric is calculated by dividing the total number of deaths from the disease by the total number of infected individuals; hence, in contrast to the CFR, the IFR incorporates asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections as well as reported cases.
CURRENT ESTIMATES
A December 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis estimated that population IFR during the first wave of the pandemic was about 0.5% to 1% in many locations (including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal), 1% to 2% in other locations (Australia, England, Lithuania, and Spain), and exceeded 2% in Italy. That study also found that most of these differences in IFR reflected corresponding differences in the age composition of the population and age-specific infection rates; in particular, the metaregression estimate of IFR is very low for children and younger adults (e.g., 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25) but increases progressively to 0.4% at age 55, 1.4% at age 65, 4.6% at age 75, and 15% at age 85. These results were also highlighted in a December 2020 report issued by the WHO.
EARLIER ESTIMATES OF IFR
At an early stage of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reported estimates of IFR between 0.3% and 1%.[ On 2 July, The WHO's chief scientist reported that the average IFR estimate presented at a two-day WHO expert forum was about 0.6%. In August, the WHO found that studies incorporating data from broad serology testing in Europe showed IFR estimates converging at approximately 0.5–1%. Firm lower limits of IFRs have been established in a number of locations such as New York City and Bergamo in Italy since the IFR cannot be less than the population fatality rate. As of 10 July, in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, 23,377 individuals (18,758 confirmed and 4,619 probable) have died with COVID-19 (0.3% of the population).Antibody testing in New York City suggested an IFR of ~0.9%,[258] and ~1.4%. In Bergamo province, 0.6% of the population has died. In September 2020 the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention reported preliminary estimates of age-specific IFRs for public health planning purposes.
SEX DIFFERENCES
Early reviews of epidemiologic data showed gendered impact of the pandemic and a higher mortality rate in men in China and Italy. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the death rate was 2.8% for men and 1.7% for women. Later reviews in June 2020 indicated that there is no significant difference in susceptibility or in CFR between genders. One review acknowledges the different mortality rates in Chinese men, suggesting that it may be attributable to lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking alcohol rather than genetic factors. Sex-based immunological differences, lesser prevalence of smoking in women and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men. In Europe, 57% of the infected people were men and 72% of those died with COVID-19 were men. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.
ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
In the US, a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred among African Americans and other minority groups. Structural factors that prevent them from practicing social distancing include their concentration in crowded substandard housing and in "essential" occupations such as retail grocery workers, public transit employees, health-care workers and custodial staff. Greater prevalence of lacking health insurance and care and of underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease also increase their risk of death. Similar issues affect Native American and Latino communities. According to a US health policy non-profit, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native People (AIAN) non-elderly adults are at risk of serious illness compared to 21% of white non-elderly adults. The source attributes it to disproportionately high rates of many health conditions that may put them at higher risk as well as living conditions like lack of access to clean water. Leaders have called for efforts to research and address the disparities. In the U.K., a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred in those of a Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority background. More severe impacts upon victims including the relative incidence of the necessity of hospitalization requirements, and vulnerability to the disease has been associated via DNA analysis to be expressed in genetic variants at chromosomal region 3, features that are associated with European Neanderthal heritage. That structure imposes greater risks that those affected will develop a more severe form of the disease. The findings are from Professor Svante Pääbo and researchers he leads at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet. This admixture of modern human and Neanderthal genes is estimated to have occurred roughly between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago in Southern Europe.
COMORBIDITIES
Most of those who die of COVID-19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available, 96.1% of people had at least one comorbidity with the average person having 3.4 diseases. According to this report the most common comorbidities are hypertension (66% of deaths), type 2 diabetes (29.8% of deaths), Ischemic Heart Disease (27.6% of deaths), atrial fibrillation (23.1% of deaths) and chronic renal failure (20.2% of deaths).
Most critical respiratory comorbidities according to the CDC, are: moderate or severe asthma, pre-existing COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis. Evidence stemming from meta-analysis of several smaller research papers also suggests that smoking can be associated with worse outcomes. When someone with existing respiratory problems is infected with COVID-19, they might be at greater risk for severe symptoms. COVID-19 also poses a greater risk to people who misuse opioids and methamphetamines, insofar as their drug use may have caused lung damage.
In August 2020 the CDC issued a caution that tuberculosis infections could increase the risk of severe illness or death. The WHO recommended that people with respiratory symptoms be screened for both diseases, as testing positive for COVID-19 couldn't rule out co-infections. Some projections have estimated that reduced TB detection due to the pandemic could result in 6.3 million additional TB cases and 1.4 million TB related deaths by 2025.
NAME
During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCov and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. The official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020. Tedros Adhanom explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019). The WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications.
HISTORY
The virus is thought to be natural and of an animal origin, through spillover infection. There are several theories about where the first case (the so-called patient zero) originated. Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019. Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats, and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.
The first known human infections were in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID-19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, reported the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1 December 2019.Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019. Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020. According to official Chinese sources, these were mostly linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. In May 2020 George Gao, the director of the CDC, said animal samples collected from the seafood market had tested negative for the virus, indicating that the market was the site of an early superspreading event, but that it was not the site of the initial outbreak.[ Traces of the virus have been found in wastewater samples that were collected in Milan and Turin, Italy, on 18 December 2019.
By December 2019, the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. The number of coronavirus cases in Hubei gradually increased, reaching 60 by 20 December, and at least 266 by 31 December. On 24 December, Wuhan Central Hospital sent a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample from an unresolved clinical case to sequencing company Vision Medicals. On 27 and 28 December, Vision Medicals informed the Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese CDC of the results of the test, showing a new coronavirus. A pneumonia cluster of unknown cause was observed on 26 December and treated by the doctor Zhang Jixian in Hubei Provincial Hospital, who informed the Wuhan Jianghan CDC on 27 December. On 30 December, a test report addressed to Wuhan Central Hospital, from company CapitalBio Medlab, stated an erroneous positive result for SARS, causing a group of doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital to alert their colleagues and relevant hospital authorities of the result. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to various medical institutions on "the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" that same evening. Eight of these doctors, including Li Wenliang (punished on 3 January), were later admonished by the police for spreading false rumours and another, Ai Fen, was reprimanded by her superiors for raising the alarm.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made the first public announcement of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause on 31 December, confirming 27 cases—enough to trigger an investigation.
During the early stages of the outbreak, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days. In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration and Wuhan being a transport hub and major rail interchange. On 20 January, China reported nearly 140 new cases in one day, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. Later official data shows 6,174 people had already developed symptoms by then, and more may have been infected. A report in The Lancet on 24 January indicated human transmission, strongly recommended personal protective equipment for health workers, and said testing for the virus was essential due to its "pandemic potential". On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.
Italy had its first confirmed cases on 31 January 2020, two tourists from China. As of 13 March 2020 the WHO considered Europe the active centre of the pandemic. Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths on 19 March 2020. By 26 March the United States had overtaken China and Italy with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travellers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country. Retesting of prior samples found a person in France who had the virus on 27 December 2019, and a person in the United States who died from the disease on 6 February 2020.
After 55 days without a locally transmitted case, Beijing reported a new COVID-19 case on 11 June 2020 which was followed by two more cases on 12 June. By 15 June there were 79 cases officially confirmed, most of them were people that went to Xinfadi Wholesale Market.
RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. A September 2020 review journal article said, "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.
MISINFORMATION
After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease rapidly spread online.
In September 2020, the U.S. CDC published preliminary estimates of the risk of death by age groups in the United States, but those estimates were widely misreported and misunderstood.
OTHER ANIMALS
Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals, a type of disease transmission referred to as zooanthroponosis.
Some pets, especially cats and ferrets, can catch this virus from infected humans. Symptoms in cats include respiratory (such as a cough) and digestive symptoms. Cats can spread the virus to other cats, and may be able to spread the virus to humans, but cat-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been proven. Compared to cats, dogs are less susceptible to this infection. Behaviors which increase the risk of transmission include kissing, licking, and petting the animal.
The virus does not appear to be able to infect pigs, ducks, or chickens at all.[ Mice, rats, and rabbits, if they can be infected at all, are unlikely to be involved in spreading the virus.
Tigers and lions in zoos have become infected as a result of contact with infected humans. As expected, monkeys and great ape species such as orangutans can also be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Minks, which are in the same family as ferrets, have been infected. Minks may be asymptomatic, and can also spread the virus to humans. Multiple countries have identified infected animals in mink farms. Denmark, a major producer of mink pelts, ordered the slaughter of all minks over fears of viral mutations. A vaccine for mink and other animals is being researched.
RESEARCH
International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID-19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers. The CDC has classified it to require a BSL3 grade laboratory. There has been a great deal of COVID-19 research, involving accelerated research processes and publishing shortcuts to meet the global demand.
As of December 2020, hundreds of clinical trials have been undertaken, with research happening on every continent except Antarctica. As of November 2020, more than 200 possible treatments had been studied in humans so far.
Transmission and prevention research
Modelling research has been conducted with several objectives, including predictions of the dynamics of transmission, diagnosis and prognosis of infection, estimation of the impact of interventions, or allocation of resources. Modelling studies are mostly based on epidemiological models, estimating the number of infected people over time under given conditions. Several other types of models have been developed and used during the COVID-19 including computational fluid dynamics models to study the flow physics of COVID-19, retrofits of crowd movement models to study occupant exposure, mobility-data based models to investigate transmission, or the use of macroeconomic models to assess the economic impact of the pandemic. Further, conceptual frameworks from crisis management research have been applied to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on organizations worldwide.
TREATMENT-RELATED RESEARCH
Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the research into COVID-19 treatments. Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Solidarity trial to assess the treatment effects of some promising drugs: an experimental drug called remdesivir; anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir/ritonavir; and interferon-beta. More than 300 active clinical trials were underway as of April 2020.
Research on the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine showed that they were ineffective at best, and that they may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. By May 2020, France, Italy, and Belgium had banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.
In June, initial results from the randomised RECOVERY Trial in the United Kingdom showed that dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third for people who are critically ill on ventilators and one fifth for those receiving supplemental oxygen. Because this is a well-tested and widely available treatment, it was welcomed by the WHO, which is in the process of updating treatment guidelines to include dexamethasone and other steroids. Based on those preliminary results, dexamethasone treatment has been recommended by the NIH for patients with COVID-19 who are mechanically ventilated or who require supplemental oxygen but not in patients with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen.
In September 2020, the WHO released updated guidance on using corticosteroids for COVID-19. The WHO recommends systemic corticosteroids rather than no systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of people with severe and critical COVID-19 (strong recommendation, based on moderate certainty evidence). The WHO suggests not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of people with non-severe COVID-19 (conditional recommendation, based on low certainty evidence). The updated guidance was based on a meta-analysis of clinical trials of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
WIKIPEDIA
Drones and crawling robots outfitted with special scanning technology could help wind blades stay in service longer, which may help lower the cost of wind energy at a time when blades are getting bigger, pricier and harder to transport.
As part of the Department of Energy’s Blade Reliability Collaborative work, funded by the Wind Energy Technologies Office, Sandia researchers partnered with energy businesses to develop machines that noninvasively inspect wind blades for hidden damage while being faster and more detailed than traditional inspections with cameras.
Learn more at bit.ly/2Fu4PgO.
Photo by Randy Montoya
At Aesthetic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, Dr. Jerry Darm and his dedicated staff have promoted wellness, health and beauty for over a decade. Over 50,000 procedures performed utilizing 25 different lasers and aesthetic devices have made Aesthetic Medicine one of the largest medical spas in the United States. The innovative 21st century technologies, the attention to detail and the dedication to customer service have given Aesthetic Medicine an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
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